Mario VS Sonic 2: Mobius Mania
by Yoshevil
Summary: Evil copies unite in this second installment of the Mario VS Sonic series!
1. Chapter 1

Mario vs. Sonic 2: Mobius Mania

**We all know how Mario Vs Sonic: Mushroom Kingdom Madness ended (read it first if you don't!) but,where are Smithy and Metal Sonic now? Are there any clues I hid in the first book that looked like nothing more then mere dialogue that really reveals an important twist in the plot? Just what is the IDMET capable of? And what about the Kronos Engine? How did Metal Sonic and Smithy meet and form an alliance? Was anyone else sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom via the wormhole? I can't reveal everything in this story, and if I do this as planned, it'll actually raise more questions about the final book then it will answer! Of course, my final book will clear everything up, although this will answer at least a few questions... Oh, and if you see computer gibberish, please put that in the YouTube URL!**

Chapter 1: Bowser vs. Robotnik

**watch?v=TdrQp2hA6NI**

It was mid-day in a huge factory, without anyone that could be seen anywhere around. The factory was building robots of all kinds, all with two things in common: they were all made to destroy Sonic, and they all were powered by small helpless animals that anyone's little sister would hug to death if given the chance. There could have been as many as one hundred manufacturing lines in that building, and still not a single operator in sight. Then, as if out of the blue, a blue swirling ring appeared, and a picture seemed to form inside of it.

At first, the picture looked like a whirlpool, then it became clearer, and colors became distinct, until finally, it showed the ruins of Bowser's castle, with Robotnik pointing towards the factory. No sound came from the strange picture, but Bowser came running through it, until he and the Koopalings were all inside of the factory. Robotnik soon followed.

Bowser growled as he looked at Robotnik, then said, "Okay, start explaining! What was that thing, what are these things, and where are we?"

"That is a rip in the time-space continuum, allowing us to teleport to any point in space in any dimension," Robotnik said, "and this is one of my many factories, which has been building up my army ever since it was first built, which was only a few weeks before I got sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom. You are in the Labyrinth Aquaducts of Mobiüs. Did you understand all of that, or was it too much for your inferior mind?"

"Look who's talking! In case you forgot, it was your plan that failed, not mine!" Bowser snarled. "This whole thing is your fault!"

"I warned you!" Robotnik laughed. "It wouldn't be wise to anger me!"

"And what are you going to do? Invent us to death?" Bowser mocked.

"Who said I was going to do anything?" Robotnik said as he laughed even louder. "I have thousands of robots waiting to be activated, and I'm getting another every ten seconds!"

"Not for long!" Bowser shouted. "Koopalings! Destroy everything in sight!"

**watch?v=e60TZ-s3_ZU**

Bowser lunged for Robotnik with his claw, only to destroy a Catakiller that blocked the attack. Ludwig was sabatoging the maufacturing lines, trying to slow down the robots. Lemmy, Iggy, and Larry all went after some robots that looked like a rhino's head with a wheel where the neck should be, and no body at all. The three of them were pretty much even against the swarm, most of them giving a minor scratch or two to one of the Koopalings before they destroyed it. Morton was going after what he considered to be the biggest threat, piranha bots. Since they weren't in water, they simply remained offline, making them easy prey for Morton and keeping him out of the way of the rest of his family. Wendy and Roy fought off the Catakillers (the only "normal" robot from the Sonic series that I can ever remember the actual name of! By normal, I mean a generic bad guy, like Goomba or Bob-omb, but not a specific character like Goombario or King Bob-omb), flying catapillars with flames wherever a centipede would have legs.

Back at the ruins of Bowser's Castle, Smithy and Metal Sonic were scavenging around.

**watch?v=aO_z2nO3ByM**

"How do we know that we haven't already changed things?" Smithy asked. "And besides, we never did ask when Robotnik was supposed to create the Kronos Engine."

"I have a feeling that the Kronos Engine wasn't created by Robotnik at all," Metal Sonic said. "Didn't Roboshi say that the manipulation of mass wasn't in Gadd's expertise?"

"So you're saying that Robotnik created the IDMET and Gadd created the Kronos?" Smithy asked. "Why would Gadd create something so dangerous, but not Robotnik?"

"Robotnik had a limited amount of materials, and there's a reason that Gadd needs to manipulate time instead of space," Metal Sonic said. "He wishes to return the time-space continuum to its full integrity; that requires him to send them back to the exact moment they left."

"Only one way to find out," Smithy said as he entered the only remaining tower of Bowser's castle.

There it stood, the teleporter, powered by the might of the IDMET. Metal Sonic carefully shut the machine down, knowing that it manipulated the time-space continuum. Metal Sonic then took the IDMET, and destroyed the rest of the machine.

"Perfect, we have the first piece of the puzzle," Metal Sonic laughed, "and those fools don't even know it exists!"

"Now it is time for us to return to Mobiüs," said Smithy. "Let's find Exor so we can get out of here!"

**Meanwhile…**

**watch?v=e60TZ-s3_ZU**

The battles fought all seemed pretty even, until a rhino robot popped Lemmy's ball. Iggy and Larry stepped back, and even Ludwig feared the rage in his eyes. Lemmy went into a fighting frenzy, mindlessly clawing at anything that moved, tearing apart hundreds of robots a minute, and he did so for about five minutes, until he fainted from exhaustion. Robotnik's army was already decimated, however, and there weren't any robots close enough to protect him.

"Now, be reasonable," Robotnik said meekly. "You wouldn't hit a man with glasses, would you?"

"Those are glasses?" Bowser said. "I always thought they were goggles!"

"Does this mean you're not going to hit me?" Robotnik asked.

"I would never hit a guy with glasses." Bowser laughed.

Bowser took a deep breath in, and then prepared to let out a burst of his fire breath. All of a sudden, the portal they had come through started to close, which puzzled Bowser and the Koopalings because the portal could only be operated from the other side. In the confusion, Robotnik managed to get away, but now he was without an army, and the IDMET was stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom.

**Next Time: Sonic and Mario actually make an appearance!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Greetings! Let me clear something up right now: Mario VS Sonic happens BEFORE Four Hammers! Anyway, Enjoy!**

Chapter 2: The Name is Boo, James Boo

**watch?v=y-78CMKME4o**

It was a nice sunny day out. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails were all relaxing by one of the several lakes around Green Hill after the long adventure they'd just had.

"Half a million PSI!" Tails said as he paced back and forth. "I can't even make a machine to do one percent of that! Can you guys believe that? Five hundred thousand pounds per square inch of water pressure!"

"We get the picture..." Sonic said as he was laying down under a tree. "I'm trying to relax here, and besides, I'm not one who knows much about making machines."

"Give it a rest, Tails," Knuckles said as he practiced his punching technique. "That professor guy looked a lot older then you; he's probably just had a lot more experience."

"Half a million PSIs worth of experience?" Tails asked. "How in the world does he fit that in such a small machine?"

"Let it go, Tails." Knuckles laughed. "It isn't like we really need to use it or anything."

"Oh Sonic!" said a girl from afar. "Are you here, Sonic?"

"Oh great!" Sonic sighed. "Can't I ever get a break from her?"

Amy came out of the woods and ran towards Sonic. "There you are, my darling Sonic!" Amy said. "Didn't you hear me asking you to wait for me?"

"I think everyone on Mobiüs heard that." Sonic laughed as he got back up. "And if there's one thing I don't do, it's wait! See ya later everyone!"

With that, Sonic ran off, with Amy chasing him as always...

**watch?v=MiAxiGZKpGQ**

Back at the Pipe House, Mario and Luigi were enjoying breakfast. They had the table set for guests, Peach and Toadsworth to be exact. There was a unique meal consisting of a beverage and an omelet for each of them. At Mario's seat was an omelet that had every ingredient found in lasagna, plus eggs, of course. Luigi's was similar, but he had Swiss cheese in his. Toadsworth's omelet was much more traditional, having cheese, bacon, and sausages in it. Peach's omelet was pretty much plain, with the exception of it having cheese in it. As for the drinks, Mario had some orange juice, Luigi had milk, Toadsworth had coffee, and Toadstool had a Pianta Punch, a special mix of fruit from Delfino Island. The doorbell rang, and Mario ran to greet Princess Toadstool. He opened the door, and to his disappointment, it was Prof. E. Gadd.

"Salutations, Mario! Having a good morning?" Gadd smiled. "I need to talk to Luigi, is he in?"

"Yeah, go right on ahead," Mario said. "He should be in the living room. And a good morning to you, too."

"Thank you," Gadd said as he pulled a large bag through with him.

Luigi quickly flipped the channel on the TV when he heard someone coming in. When he saw it wasn't the princess, he changed it back to his show.

"Good morning, Luigi, anything good on TV?" Gadd asked.

"Just don't tell anyone, but I'm watching Star Quest," Luigi said.

"You're a Questy?" Gadd laughed. "Don't worry, I don't care about that kind of stuff, just don't go talking to me in some language they made just for the show."

"Okay, and don't tell Mario you know. He's upset enough about me being a Questy, and doesn't want the princess to find out." Luigi laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it," Gadd said. "Besides, maybe you'll like these glasses then, they'll help with ghost hunting."

Gadd pulled out a weird pair of glasses that, other then being tinted red, looked normal.

"And what do they do?" Luigi asked.

"Just put them on, and I'll guide you from there," Gadd said.

Luigi put them on, and everything seemed normal.

"Now, focus on something and wink your right eye," Gadd said.

Luigi looked at the TV and did as Gadd said. When he did so, the glasses displayed some information about the television, such as the manufacturer, the copyright, the number of channels it got, and lots of other information about it.

"So does it work on ghosts?" Luigi asked.

"Just wink your left eye to switch to ghost viewing mode; they won't be able to hide even if they're invisible!" Gadd said.

"Okay, but there aren't any ghosts he- GHOST!" Luigi shouted as he winked his left eye.

"Don't worry, Luigi!" said Bow as she appeared. "You don't know me, but I helped out your brother on an adventure once."

"Join the club," Gadd laughed. "I think Luigi here is president of it."

"Bow!" Luigi said.

"Yes, what is it?" Bow asked.

"Okay, yep, my brother has told me about you," Luigi said.

Bow looked at the TV and laughed. "You're a Questy!" Bow said as she laughed. "Oh, I can't believe the brother of the great Super Mario is a Questy!"

"Would you please keep it down?" Luigi said. "Mario doesn't want anyone to know that I watch it."

"Too late for that," Mario sighed. "Watching your show again, I see."

"Well, here's the Poltergust 3000. Yu don't need a recap, do you?" Gadd asked.

"I remember how to use it," Luigi said nervously. "Why do you ask?"

"Because those no good Boos that give all of us peaceful Boos a bad name are attacking again!" Bow shouted. "Sometimes I wish that they were alive so I could..."

"Lady Bow, please, that is very unbecoming of one such as yourself," said Bootler as he flew through a wall. "Although I must concur, they do give us a bad name."

"Where are they attacking?" Mario asked.

"The castle, and they have a new leader with them," Gadd explained. "We don't know much of anything about him. We do, however, know that he is from Mobiüs, and as such, he needs to be put back into his own dimension, as to restore the integrity of the space-time continuum."

"I thought you said I wouldn't have to fight any ghosts!" Luigi said.

"That adventure of yours was over last night," Gadd said.

"Luigi, come on, I'm going too," Mario said.

"What do you mean 'too'?" Luigi asked. "You can handle Boos."

"But not the Poltergust, and how else are we supposed to carry this ghost until we can put him back into Mobiüs?" Mario said.

"Fine, I'll go," Luigi sighed. "Let's do this."

**watch?v=4SOohiqz5eM**

Later that night, Tails was having trouble sleeping. He still couldn't get FLUDD's new nozzle off his mind. They were still by the lake, when Tails thought he saw something in the distance coming from the sky. He flew up towards it. After flying a few miles, he could see that it was headed for the Oil Ocean.

"This dream again?" Tails asked himself. "This should be when that sword comes down and sinks into the ocean."

Just as Tails had guessed, a giant sword with a face came down and sank into the Oil Ocean.

"That's it, no more sugar before bed for me," Tails said as he flew back over to the lake.

**watch?v=YBBCxIppwn8**

Mario and Luigi went into the castle, and saw some Boos flying around in the foyer. All the lights in the castle seemed to be off.

"Hey, is that the ghost killer?" one of the Boos asked. "He looks like he fits the description."

"Yeah right, there's no way he's that Luigi guy, he's shaking in his boots!" said another. "He probably thinks he can fool us by dressing up like Luigi."

"How stupid does he think we are?" asked the first Boo. "That nobody in red probably stands more of a chance against us then that Luigi wannabe!"

"Luigi, are you going to let them mock you like that?" Mario asked.

"Actually, yes," Luigi said as he tried to leave out the front door.

Mario grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and said, "Come on, tell me one evil being that's been able to stop us when we're together? Come on! We're the Super Mario Bros!"

"Wait, what did he just say?" asked a third Boo.

"Don't be so gullible," said the second Boo. "Everyone knows the Mario Bros. are humans and that one wears a red cap with an M on it, and a green cap with an L is on the other one's head."

"These must be the ones that are brain dead," Mario joked. "Ready to show them what we do to evil Boos?"

Luigi got out the Poltergust 3000 and started sucking two of them up. Mario snuck up behind a third and punched it into the ground. There were four others that realized that the plumbers really were the Mario Bros. and decided to get out of there while they still could.

"Where to next?" Luigi asked over the Gameboy Horror.

"The princess' bedroom," Gadd explained. "We have information that the ghost is in there."

They went inside to see a large ghost with a rainbow-colored tongue.

**watch?v=8V5khGxMuHs**

"Hello, and welcome the last moments of your life," said a Boo who was wearing a tuxedo with a red bow tie. "My name is James, and this is my superior, King Boomboo. Where he came from, he's the king of ghosts! And, so long as King Boo isn't here, I don't think anyone is going to argue with him."

"And why doesn't he tell us this himself?" Mario asked.

"He can't speak," James said. "For now, I bid you farewell, my fellow gentlemen; I'm going to make sure the princess is comfy."

James flew out of the rec room and into the princess' main bedroom.

"Get back here!" Mario shouted as he tried the doorknob to Peach's room. "Locked! Why is it that whenever a door is of any importance, it's locked?"

King Boomboo laughed, and then sank into the ground.

"I wonder, can these things see through walls?" Luigi asked as he put on the Poltergaze and winked his left eye. "Hey, he didn't go into the room below us! He turned into a shadow!"

"Great, we're in a dark room with no lights on, and he's a shadow," Mario said. "Try seeing if you can suck him up while he's like that."

Luigi tried to, and although it pulled him out of the ground, King Boomboo didn't bend to fit into the Poltergust like ghosts from his dimension did.

"Mario, I think we have a problem!" Luigi said as King Boomboo broke the Poltergust.

"I've got him!" Mario said as he tried to punch the ghost from behind.

King Boomboo quickly turned around and spit out an ectoplasmic fireball. Mario was knocked down by the attack and had to roll to put out the fire.

"I'm surprised that works with ectoplasmic energy," Luigi said.

"We've got bigger problems right now!" Mario said.

"No you don't!" said a voice as King Boomboo was caught in a glowing net. "Another mission well done. Thanks for distracting him while I got the information."

"Who's there?" Mario asked.

"Just come into the princess' room and I'll explain," said the voice. "I've unlocked it."

The two of them wnet inside to find Peach sitting on her couch and greeting James.

**watch?v=FtIyg9Nyzvo**

"It's good to see you, Peach," James said as he kissed her hand. "I've found the information that you needed."

"Give me that Poltergust, Luigi!" Mario. "This ghost is mine!"

"It's broke, and don't get envious!" Luigi said. "It's proper for a gentleman to kiss a lady's hand in greeting her."

"I never let anyone kiss me but Peach, and here she's letting this Boo slobber on her hand!" Mario said.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, my good man," James laughed, "but I'm not really interested in her like that. I do that to all the ladies, your brother is correct in his reasoning of etiquette."

"Sure, and I'll bet that you're just smooth-talking to be nice as well," Mario said.

"Please, I'm four hundred years old, I'm old enough to be her great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandfather!" James said. "Let's try this again. Greetings, the name is Boo, James Boo."

"Mine is Mario," Mario sighed,"So what information did you find out?"

"Well, according to the Boos that saw the battle, Bowser and Robotnik did escape into Mobiüs," James said. "They made a machine called an IDMET, which seemed to concern the professor."

"So that was an IDMET that I was picking up with the satellite!" Gadd said. "But that means things are worse then I thought."

"What do you mean?" Luigi asked.

"The IDMET's signal is very powerful, impossible to hide," Gadd explained. "But before the Boos attacked the castle, the signal disappeared. The only way something like that could disappear is if it went into another dimension."

"Why couldn't it have just broke?" Luigi asked.

"Because then there would be a sudden burst of energy that would have created another black hole," Gadd said. "I still don't understand much about it, but it's almost as dangerous as the Kronos Engine would be in the wrong hands!"

"So Robotnik and Bowser took it with them, right?" Luigi asked.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Gadd said. "And even worse, Smithy and Metal Sonic were spotted near Vista Hill."

"Please don't say we're going after them," Luigi groaned.

"We can't. If it was just one of them, we'd be fine," Mario said, "but we can't take on both of them. We're going to have to get Sonic to help us again."

"So it's settled then!" Gadd said. "I'll prepare the Kronos Gateway for you! You'll go to Mobiüs, find Sonic, help him stop Bowser and Robotnik, retrieve the IDMET, capture Bowser and bring him back into this dimension, bring Sonic and his friends with you to stop Smithy and Metal Sonic, and send Metal Sonic back to Mobiüs!"

"You say it as though it's easy," Luigi said.

"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I'm afraid I can't blow my cover, so farewell, everyone!" James said, then screamed. "The plumbers are too strong! King Boomboo has fallen! Retreat!"

"Just one thing," Luigi said. "If you're at our house, how are you supposed to have the gate ready for us if we're already at the castle?"

"Good point, I'll have the gateway prepared for you by the time lunch is over!" Gadd said. "Eat up, you're going to need your energy!"

**watch?v=y-78CMKME4o**

"Where you been, Tails?" Sonic asked as Tails landed from the trees.

"Been? What do you mean?" Tails asked. "I've been asleep this whole time. I had a weird dream again."

"You sure?" Sonic asked. "I don't remember you being a sleepwalker, or a sleepflyer for that matter."

"Wait, did I head off in the direction of the Oil Ocean?" Tails asked.

"I only saw you get back, I didn't see you leave," Sonic explained. "Besides, you know I'm not good with directions. We've been so many places, I can barely remember being here at Green Hill!"

"Yeah right, you could never forget this one!" Tails said. "Everyone knows about what happened here!"

"Yeah, my first step towards becoming a hero." Sonic sighed. "Robotnik didn't believe it when he saw me. The only other time he had seen me before that was when he took Gramps."

"Did he recognize you?" Tails asked.

"No, but he did know that I was trying to be like my grandfather," Sonic said as he rubbed his eye. "I'm sorry, this place has dust flying everywhere."

"I just wish we knew where your uncle kept the blueprints," Tails said. "If I could see how the roboticizer was designed, even if it was only the version before Robotnik stole it, I could probably make a machine to reverse the effects."

"I've told you before, I don't think he made blueprints." Sonic sighed. "He kept everything in his head."

"There you are, Sonic!" said Amy. "Oh look! You're waiting for me to watch the sunrise with you!"

"Actually, sunrise isn't for another five hours." Tails yawned. "I'm going back to sleep, good night."

"Well, that leaves us alone, Sonic," Amy said as gleefully. "What do you want to do now? Are you finally going to take me on a date?"

"Wait a bit," Sonic said to himself. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

"Why are you counting down, Sonic?" Amy asked.

"Three, two, one, zero!" Sonic said.

Amy had fallen asleep when Sonic looked back up.

_Right on schedule! Now I can get some rest_, Sonic thought to himself as he quietly stepped away from her.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toadsworth all gathered in Gadd's lab, awaiting for him to explain how the Kronos Gateway worked.

"Good, everyone is here!" Gadd said. "As you all know, this is the Kronos Gateway."

"Why is it named after a titan?" Luigi asked.

"A what?" Peach said.

"Kronos is a titan, from the Greek myths," Luigi said. "He was the titan of the sky before his son Zeus dethroned him."

"But there is something else he was the titan of, can you remember what?" Gadd asked Luigi.

"Does it matter?" Mario asked. "We should do this as quickly as possible."

"He was also the titan that dethroned his father," Luigi explained. "Oh, wait, I know what you mean, he was also the titan of... wait a minute, you're not trying to tell us that the Kronos Gateway is a... well, never mind."

"Go ahead, say it," Gadd said.

"You can't be serious!" Luigi shouted. "That's impossible! Are you trying to say that this thing is a time machine?"

**Next time: Shadow the Hedgehog appears!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welcome! Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: Father of Zeus

**watch?v=8lTCVMLWkpE**

"Percisely," Gadd said, "and you all surely know just how dangerous that makes this thing, right?"

"Dangerous! Is that all you have to say?" Luigi said. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we'd rather fight a hundred monsters with Smithy's strength before messing with the time stream!"

"Messing with the time stream is the only way to fix it." Gadd sighed. "As much as I hated to create my greatest acheivement, I had no choice."

"What do you mean you had no choice?" Toadsworth asked frantically. "Next time you want to threaten us all, do something less dangerous, like creating a nuclear missile!"

"I agree, it is more dangerous than anything I ever imagined I'd ever make." Gadd sighed again. "But in order to fix the space-time continuum, I had to send everyone back to the exact moment they got eaten by the wormhole."

"So do we need the Crystal Stars?" Mario asked.

"No, that was a one-time thing," Gadd explained. "It can produce more energy than it takes in. The Crystal Stars were simply needed to give it its first bit of power, as it still needed to have energy to create more."

"So you'll destroy it after we fix everything, right?" Mario asked.

Gadd gave them a worried look, then sighed and said, "I wish it was that simple, but once a time machine is created, it can't be destroyed without destroying the dimension it's in. So as much as I wish I could, no."

"We'll worry about that later," Peach said. "Mario, I'm going with you."

"What? You could get trapped in that dimension, captured by Bowser, held hostage by some strange criminal from Mobiüs; just about anything could happen!"

"You know very well that I can defend myself, you remember how well I did in the second Smash Bros. tournament!" Toadstool said. "I may not have made it into the final eight, but I did win one of my two fights in my division."

"Who was in your division again?" Luigi asked.

"Link, who made it to the final eight, not to mention the finals, and the one that lost to me was Samus," Peach said. "And there's no way you're convincing me she was a weak opponent."

"You do have a point," Mario said. "It's quite rare that someone fights Samus and emerges victorious."

"I must say, I hated watching that match," Toadsworth said. "It was very unbecoming of you to fight just for the fun of it, and Miss Aran was quite brutal towards you in that match."

"The point is, I can protect myself, and besides, I almost never get to go with Mario on his adventures," Peach said. "Please, Mario, it would mean so much to me."

"Okay, but bring the frying pan," Mario said. "Luigi, are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," Luigi sighed.

_A time machine?_ Wario thought to himself as he watched from outside a window high above the basement._ This could make me rich! I'll be making millions, no, I'll be making so much money, they'll have to make a new number for it! I'll go back in time, and I'll give myself some investment tips! I can't lose! _

Mario went through the gate first, Peach second, and Luigi followed. Wario ran into the lab as fast as he could, and stared at the Kronos Gateway.

"What are you doing here?" Gadd asked. "You aren't welcome here!"

"Fine then, I think I'll just show myself out!" Wario said as he punched Elvin in the face, knocking the professor unconscious.

"If you want the princess, you'll have to go through me first!" Toadsworth said. "I'm warning you, I've got a black belt!"

Wario laughed and ignored Toadsworth as he stepped through the gateway.

"I do have a black belt, it's just not the type they use in martial arts." Toadsworth sighed. "How do I always manage to let the princess down? I guess I'd better make sure Professor Gadd isn't injured."

**watch?v=8O_CmBn9sUo**

"Daddy King!" Ludwig said, "I zink I've found somezing important!"

"It better be!" Bowser growled. "You're interrupting my sleep!"

"Well, it's more of a someone zen a somezing," Ludwig explained, "vut it seems zat ze doctor has left somezing of great importance vehind. If you would just follow me, I zink you will find it most intriguing."

Ludwig led Bowser down into a basement. Inside it was a large, strange capsule, and a control panel next to it. Although they couldn't see through the capsule's window, a familiar figure seemed to be inside.

"Doesn't zat silhoute look familiar, Fazer?" Ludwig asked. "If I didn't know any vetter, I'd say zat it was zat rodent zat is from zis universe!"

"You're right!" Bowser said. "Let's open it!"

"Well, it will take me some time to figure out what ze controls do," Ludwig said, "but I zould ve able to hack into it soon."

"I'll teach you a better way to hack into something!" Bowser laughed.

Bowser lifted up his claws and started hacking at the capsule with them. When he broke the glass, the figure inside started to move. It punched the glass, and jumped out of the capsule. It was Shadow the Hedgehog, a black hedgehog with red markings who is the exact same size as Sonic.

"Which one of you two released me?" Shadow asked.

_Oh great! Whenever someone asks something like that, they always want revenge for their sleep_ _being interrupted!_ Bowser thought to himself, then pointed to Ludwig and said, "He did it!"

Shadow walked up to Ludwig, nodded at him, and said, "Thank you for freeing me. To repay you, you are my master until I fulfill one request for you."

"Well, zere is somezing I've always wanted..." Ludwig smiled.

Then, Bowser held out his index finger and moved it across his neck as a signal to Ludiwg.

"Good point," Ludwig sighed. "On the other hand, I do know a pest that needs to be taken care of. His name is Mario, he's a plumber. I want you to obliterate him."

"Is that all, just a simple assasination?" Shadow laughed. "Are you really going to waste your request on a simple sewage maintainance engineer?"

"Mario isn't a sewage maintainance engineer," Bowser said, "he's a plumber."

Ludwig laughed, which he knew he was about to pay dearly for. "Zey're ze same zing, Fazer!"

"That's it! First of all, it's not father, it's Daddy King! And second of all, I'm not a clown!" Bowser yelled, then spit out a quick fireball at Ludwig.

"I'm sorry Daddy King!" Ludwig said. "You're right, it wasn't funny!"

Shadow started to go after Bowser until Ludwig asked him to stop.

"You see," Ludwig said, "he is my master, just as I am yours, understand?"

"Simple enough, I beg your forgiveness," Shadow said as he turned to Bowser. "Are you sure you want me to destroy a simple plumber? I could do something much more valuable for you."

"Trust me, there is nothing I want more," Bowser said.

"Zat means yes," Ludwig said.

**watch?v=MiAxiGZKpGQ**

Mario appeared in the Mystic Cavern, a huge cave full of traps that Robotnik had set for Sonic. In a few seconds, Peach appeared behind Mario, and then Luigi.

"I think it's a cave," Mario said. "I see light that way."

"Well, I guess that's a good place to start, then," Peach said. "Lead the way!"

"Whatever happened to ladies first?" Luigi asked.

"I don't have any idea where we're going," Peach explained.

"Neither does Mario," Luigi reminded her. "None of us have ever been here before."

Mario signaled for them to follow him as he walked toward the light. He tripped over a rock, and started to fall into a pit. Luigi caught him before he fell down, and pulled him back up. All three of them looked down the hole and saw that it was filled with spikes.

"Thanks, Bro," Mario said. "I don't want to know what would've happened if you didn't catch me there."

"How many times have you two saved each other?" Peach asked. "It has to be a pretty high number, right?"

"We lost count a long time ago," Mario said. "We're probably even anyways. Just goes to show that there's safety in numbers."

They carefully jumped over the hole, and proceeded outside of the cave. What they saw amazed them: a huge city, which looked like one giant factory.

"Wow!" Peach said. "I guess we'd better start asking around!"

"That thing has to be at least a mile high!" Mario said. "If that thing has as many people as it looks like it does, then there has to be someone there who know where Sonic is, right?"

"Excuse me, but are you new here?" asked a ram-like person. "No one ever knows where Sonic is, he's always on the move! He may be a great hero, but no one can keep track of him."

"Could you tell us where we are?" Luigi asked.

"Megatropolis, largest city on all of Mobiüs!" the ram said. "What planet are you from?"

"Is space travel common in this dimension?" Luigi asked.

_These guys are nuts, they think I actually thought they're from a different planet! I'd better get away from these crackpots fast!_ the ram thought, then said, "Er, yes, quite common, I'm from the moon. Well, I've got to go, I'm about to miss my flight back home!" With that, the ram ran off.

"Let's start looking around," Mario sighed.

**watch?v=rFplpFeIe4w**

"Where am I?" asked Wario as he appeared in the cave. "Is this what the castle used to look like?"

"Who are you?" asked Eggman as he was traveling through the cave. "Why are you in my hideout?"

"The name is Wario! And I'm trying to find myself now that I'm in the past. Can you tell me what year this is?" Wario asked.

"Wait a minute, you're from the Mushroom Kingdom!" Robotnik said as held a remote and looked at Wario. "You're one of Mario's friends, aren't you?"

"Mario? The pathetic plumber? Yeah right!" Wario laughed. "I wouldn't help him for the world!"

"Well then, would you destroy one of his friends if it meant ruling the world?" Eggman asked.

"Depends, what's in it for me?" Wario asked. "My services don't come cheap!"

"Money is no object," Eggman said.

"Then count me in!" Wario said. "Tell me, who am I supposed to smash to a pulp?"

"His name is Sonic," Robotnik explained, "and I don't even want a pulp to be left of him when you're done, is that understood?"

"Sounds like my kind of job!" Wario laughed. "You got it, Boss!"

**Uh-oh… What'll happen next? See you next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome to Chapter 4! Enjoy!**

Chapter 4: Wario Vs. Shadow

**watch?v=Quxw3UauUKk**

Shadow was running all over Mobiüs in search of for Mario. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but other than Robotnik, no humans were known to live on Mobiüs, so he figured Mario would stick out like a sore thumb. Shadow was also on the lookout for a Chaos Emerald; he didn't care which one or how many, as long as he got one. In the meantime, he still knew how to defend himself, and he could still get pretty fast, especially since he made the term "rockets for shoes" literal. At the time, he was running over the ocean when he saw an island in the sky. He didn't stop to look at it; he would have fallen into the sea if he had, and he didn't know how to swim. He noted it, and kept on running until he reached a normal island, which had a huge mountain on top of it. He decided to try looking from up there to get a better view of things.

"What am I?" he asked himself aloud. "Why can't I remember anything before that turtle woke me up? What's a Chaos Emerald, and why do I feel like I need one? And why in the world was there a flying island?"

Shadow couldn't figure anything out, but he did spot a cave. He decided that was as good of place as any to look for Mario, so he decided to do so.

**watch?v=rFplpFeIe4w**

"I can't believe this!" Wario said as he was walking through the Mystic Cavern. "A huge mysterious cave, and not one piece of treasure in sight!"

"Don't worry about that!" Robotnik said over a radio he gave to Wario. "You'll have all the money you need after you take down Sonic!"

"I've already got all the money I need," Wario said. "I need you to give me all the money I want!"

"Fine, just get the job done! Wait, I'm picking up something on the radar, and it's moving at over seven hundred miles per hour!" Robotnik said. "And he's in the cave, it has to be him! He's found me already. Strange, he usually only goes after me whenever I attack Mobiüs. Nonetheless, finish him!"

"Well, I have no doubt that this is Mobiüs's most populated city," Luigi said. "I mean, just look at everyone that's here! This one city seems to have more people than all of the Mushroom Kingdom!"

**watch?v=MiAxiGZKpGQ**

"Has anyone else noticed that we're the only humans here, or is it just me?" Mario asked.

"No, I haven't seen any others either," Peach said. "I guess we're kind of like aliens here."

"That would explain why lots of people are giving us weird looks," Luigi said, "but we'd probably find Sonic a lot faster if we actually asked someone."

Mario walked up to a raccoon and asked about Sonic.

"Of course I've heard of him, I mean, who hasn't?" said the raccoon. "But I don't know where he is."

"Do you know anyone who might know?" Mario asked.

"Well, I don't really know them, but I've heard of this group of detectives, Team Chaotix, I think," the raccoon said. "They're in the city looking for business, I heard, and I've heard good things about them."

"Do you know where in the city they are?" Mario asked.

"I'm not certain, but they would probably be in the main market place," the raccoon explained. "If anyone's looking for business, or wants to give someone business, there's no better place in all of Megaopolis!"

"Could you give us some directions?" Peach asked. "We're not from around here."

"No offence, but it kind of shows," said the raccoon. "The name is Thomas."

"You don't mean Thomas as in Tom Nook, do you?" Luigi asked.

"No, just Tom the raccoon," Tom said. "Come on, I'll show you where it is."

**watch?v=YU-7s5pI1i8**

"So remind me why we're going to this filthy place," Amy said. "I hate oil!"

"First of all, we're not going; Knuckles, Tails, and I are," Sonic said. "And secondly, the reason is because Tails thinks he had a dream about it."

"Since when is Tails psychic?" Amy asked.

"He's not, but the thing is, he actually was flying, and I didn't see him sleeping at all last night," Sonic said. "Something must have happened there. I'm not sure if a giant sword really did fall from the sky, but something strange must be going on; Tails doesn't hallucinate."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Amy asked.

"I already told you, you're not coming!" Sonic sighed.

"Fine, I'll just follow a few feet behind you like always." Amy chuckled.

"You know, Sonic, she has a point," Knuckles said. "Just let the girl come with us for once."

"Yeah, she probably won't annoy you as much if you just let her come along!" Tails laughed as he flew up.

"Why did you fly up so quickly?" Knuckles asked.

"Because he knows what I'd do to him if he came down after that comment!" Amy said as she swung around her Piko Piko hammer.

"No, but we should get going," Tails said as he stuck out his tongue at Amy.

"Real mature, you two," Sonic joked, "but you aren't coming, and that's final!"

"Why not?" Amy asked as she cried.

"Because you'll think that we're on a date!" Sonic said. "That's all you ever think about!"

"Well, I know Sonic's going to take up this offer, but I'm leaving now, so if any of you want to follow me, you'd better do it quick!" Tails said as he flew on ahead.

"You've got that right. Come on, Knuckles!" Sonic said as he ran off to follow Tails.

"Wait for us!" Amy said as she and Knuckles ran off after them.

**watch?v=DsoOHHHqKpI**

"Here we are, the largest trade center in all of Mobiüs!" Tom said. "Don't let the fact that we call this the 'Market Place' fool you, it's one of the most technologically advanced places on the planet as well! Although, if you were to see the Twilight Station, this place would seem primitive, I'll admit."

"Thank you very much," Mario said.

"No problem!" Tom said. "See you guys later!"

"Hey, I just realized something, we were just having somebody help us find somebody to help us find somebody!"

"You're right, I guess that was kind of odd," Peach said. "Now we just need to find this Team Chaotix."

**watch?v=BbP9fEUZz1M**

"Hey, did you say you were looking for us?" asked a bee.

"Depends, who are you?" Luigi asked.

"Charmy Bee, at your service!" Charmy said. "I'm the mascot of Team Chaotix!"

"Perfect!" Mario said. "Could you show us where your office is?"

"That's quite a ways away," Charmy explained. "We're visiting here looking for people who might need our services. Things haven't been so good back home."

"If you can do the job for us, we can pay you quite a bit," Peach said.

"Well, Vector always says that our policy is to never turn down a job that pays, so follow me!" Charmy said as he led them to an outdoor booth.

Inside the booth was a purple chameleon, and a crocodile wearing a pair of headphones. Charmy smiled and held out his hand as he showed the three of them his team.

"The name is Vector! What do you three need?" the crocodile asked.

"We need you to find someone for us," Peach explained.

"We charge a hefty fee, but we'll get the job done," said the chameleon. "My name is Espio, and if you need a spy to get you information on this person, I'm your best bet."

"Hold your horses!" Vector said. "We're not even sure if they're willing to pay!"

Peach reached into her pocket and pulled out a large diamond about the size of an eyeball. Vector couldn't believe what she was offering.

"Okay! A few more of these and we're yours for life!" Vector laughed. "So who do you want us to find?"

"The famous hero, Sonic the Hedgehog," Mario said.

"I can't believe I'm turning down this much money, but we can't do that," Vector said. "We know Sonic, and we won't spy on him for you."

"We don't need a spy, we just need to find where he is so we can talk to him," Luigi explained. "We need his help."

"Lots of people need his help, and unless you can guarantee our pay regardless, we can't do it," Espio explained.

"As long as you find him," Peach agreed. "Besides, I think he'll make an exception for Mario."

**watch?v=rFplpFeIe4w**

"Have you found Sonic yet?" Eggman asked. "The security systems are going berserk!"

"Hold on!" Wario said. "I hear something nearby, I'll just wait for him."

"Now listen to me, you fool!" Robotnik shouted over the radio. "If you want to receive so much as a single cent from me, you will do exactly as I say, understand?"

"Fine, I'm going!" Wario sighed.

He advanced a bit further until he saw a shadowy figure.

"This is Fat Man to Egg Head!" Wario shouted. "I've found the infestation!"

"Did I tell you to use idiotic code names?" Robotnik asked. "Just take care of him!"

"Roger that, Egg Head!" Wario laughed as he went towards the hedgehog and said, "Say your prayers, rat boy!"

Shadow saw Wario and assumed it was Mario. He simply laughed and kicked at Wario. Wario ducked to avoid the attack, and then swung at Shadow with his fist. Shadow was too quick for the attack to hit him, as he quickly jumped up and kicked Wario in the face. Wario retaliated by grabbing Shadow's foot and throwing him into the ground.

**watch?v=8V5khGxMuHs**

"What's going on over there?" Eggman asked over the radio. "I haven't had time to install security cameras yet, so start telling me what you're doing!"

Wario took the radio out, and Shadow kicked it as he got back up. The radio shattered as it fell on the floor. Wario ignored it and charged at Shadow with his elbow. Shadow was able to dodge the attack, and swung a punch at Wario. The punch hit Wario's stomach, but it just bounced off him.

"I've got abs of jello!" Wario laughed as he jumped over Shadow and ground pounded him.

Shadow was knocked aside, but he just smiled and laughed. Then he stopped laughing and said, "I have to admit, Mario, you're stronger then I expected. Looks like it's time for me to stop fooling around."

"Watch what you say, Sonic! You'll regret comparing me to that loser!" Wario said as he punched at Shadow. Shadow stopped the punch by grabbing Wario's hand.

"Hold on, who's Sonic?" Shadow asked. "My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, and if you're not Mario, then who are you?"

"I'm his greatest enemy, Wario!" Wario laughed. "And I'm trying to find a blue rat named Sonic, that way I can kill him and collect my pay."

"Well then, perhaps we can help each other." Shadow laughed. "We can search for our targets together, and then we'll take them out one at a time, deal?"

"Fine, I've been waiting to finish off Mario for the longest time anyway," Wario said. "Deal! We can fight them together!"

"Well then, that makes things easier for the both of us. I'll see you later, Wario," Shadow said. "Until then, good luck with your hunt."

**See you next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome to Chapter 5! Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: Target Acquired

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

When the four heroes of Mobiüs reached the oil ocean, they couldn't beleive what they saw: the whole ocean was on fire.

"That's impossible!" Tails said. "Who could have done this?"

"I don't know, and I don't care, we have to stop this," Knuckles said.

"You're right, no one should set a whole ocean ablaze and get away with it," Sonic said. "This horrific act won't go unpunished."

"Who would do such a thing?" Amy asked. "It's terrible!"

As they looked into the fire, they saw a large figure standing on top of the fire. Then they realized it wasn't a person at all, it was a giant sword that was destroying everything in sight.

"What is that thing?" Sonic asked.

"So I wasn't dreaming. But I've been seeing this for the past few months, why is it just now attacking?" Tails asked.

"I'm not sure," Sonic sighed, "but it isn't going to get away with this. Tails, can you get me in close enough to attack him?"

"I don't think so, I'll get the Cyclone over here as fast as I can," Tails said.

"Okay, we'll try to stop the flames from spreading until you get back," Knuckles said.

"What do I do?" Amy asked.

"Stay out of the way." Sonic sighed. "Let's do this!"

**watch?v=XlpU_zmfnsU**

Shadow had reached Megaopolis when he finally saw Mario. Shadow wasn't expecting to find anyone with Mario, and didn't know which of the two Mario Bros. was Mario.

"It doesn't matter," he said to himself. "Either way, I'd better notify Ludwig."

Shadow fixed the radio he had destroyed earlier and adjusted the frequency to a channel Ludwig had told him earlier.

"This is Shadow," Shadow said. "Target acquired, dead or alive?"

"As long as ze plumver is taken care of, I don't care," Ludwig said. "Just make sure he can't vozer Daddy King again!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand that last part, repeat that," Shadow asked.

"My fazer," Ludwig said. "Make sure Mario can't vozer my fazer ever again!"

"Understood. Time to have a little fun with him," Shadow said as he ran towards the Mario Bros, Peach, and Team Chaotix.

**watch?v=rFplpFeIe4w**

Eggman gave Wario a new radio. Instead of going for Sonic immediately, Robotnik suggested he steal the Chaos Emeralds. That meant one thing: he would have to go to Angel Island. Robotnik had explained to him that Angel Island was the place where the Master Emerald rested. The main problem wasn't that the Master Emerald was so big, but the fact that Angel Island floated in the sky. This also made it difficult to steal the Master Emerald, as whenever the Master Emerald was disturbed, the island would plummet into the ocean like a normal island. Robotnik had a plan, however, and this included rebuilding one of his favorite inventions, the EES Egg Carrier.

"As you know, we need to fly to reach Angel Island," Eggman said, "so I have taken the liberty of recreating and even improving on one of my greatest inventions ever! The Mystic Cave has a near endless supply of raw materials, probably even enough to rebuild the EES Death Egg! However, we don't have time for such a collossus, even if there is enough metal in this cavern."

"Metal? You mean like bronze, silver, gold, and platinum?" Wario asked. "Anything in here that would sell?"

"Forget the money for a second and listen! The EES Egg Carrier was a large fortress I built capable of staying airborne for months at a time, and I had two of them. One was destroyed by Sonic, and the other by Chaos," Eggman stated, "but now that I've found that this place is so rich in metals, I was able to reinforce the already impressive armor of this flying battle station! Behold, the EES Egg Carrier III!"

Eggman pressed a button on a remote, and the whole cave started to shake. The top of the cave opened up to reveal the sky, and the floor beneath them moved aside to reveal the Egg Carrier being raised from underneath them. It was almost a quarter of a mile in length, and its wings barely fit into the cave. It looked basically like the other two Egg Carriers, but this one had more guns.

"So, how much money will this thing get us?" Wario asked.

"You don't get it. When I rule the world, you'll get all the money you want!" Robotnik laughed. "Is that too much for your thick head to comprehend? Never mind, just get in. This will be a simple mission: you'll go on to Angel Island, get the Master Emerald, and come back here. In the meantime, I'll be working on the ultimate machine that will spell doom for Sonic once and for all!"

"The ultimate machine is an ATM machine!" Wario said.

"You idiot, you never say the word 'machine' after 'ATM'!" Robotnik shouted. "It's redundent!"

"How so?" Wario asked.

"ATM means automatic teller machine, so you just told me that, 'The ultimate machine is an automatic teller machine machine!'" Robotnik explained.

"You said machine twice," Wario said, "and I didn't say 'automatic teller machine', I said, 'ATM'."

Robotnik just sighed, trying to restrain himself from using Wario as target practice for the Egg Carrier.

"Just get in the EES Egg Carrier III," Eggman sighed.

**watch?v=4SOohiqz5eM**

Tails got in his trusty biplane, the Tornado, and flew back over to the Oil Ocean as fast as he could. He kept it in biplane mode (because I can't remember the name of the other mode). He didn't even stop when he reached the ocean, he simply swooped low enough for the three of them to jump on.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted since he knew she would have a hard time hearing him over the engine's roar. "You're supposed to stay back there!"

"What? I couldn't understand you!" Amy laughed. "The Tornado is too loud! You'll just have to tell me after our adventure is over!"

Sonic just sighed and ignored her. He looked around for any platforms near the sword that everyone could jump to. They found one that wasn't yet weakened by the flames and jumped off. Amy and Knuckles soon followed. Tails couldn't find a surviving area large enought to land the Tornado, so he decided to just make passes with the Tornado, firing when he had a clear shot.

"Who are you fools?" asked the sword.

"You can talk?" Sonic asked with a surprised look. "You've got a lot of explaining to do! Who are you, and why are you burning the Oil Ocean?"

"My name is Exor, and why I'm doing this is no concern of yours." Exor laughed. "Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson!"

Exor shot a fireball out of his mouth that flew above Sonic and his friends. The fireball didn't go anywhere near them. Instead, it went behind the three of them and a ring of fire shot out, hitting all the support beams for the platform they were standing on. The platform instantly started to collapse as one of the beams melted and tww of the others were greatly weakened.

"Knuckles, take Amy and glide to a safe spot," Sonic said. "I'll catch the express."

Knuckles did as Sonic said and took Amy from platform to platform until they were back on the shore. Tails saw that Sonic was int trouble and swooped down again, and Sonic jumped back on.

"Should we make an attack run?" Tails asked.

"No, we need to come up with a better plan. You saw how easily he destroyed that platform, and these platforms were all designed to withstand extreme heat in case something like this happened," Sonic explained. "We'll stop him later, we need a plan."

**watch?v=5Rk64Rf0NpU**

Shadow moved in on Mario. He was careful not to be seen. They were in the Spring Yards, a place that resembled a giant pinball machine. Everyone was jumping around, trying to reach the Oil Ocean.

"According to the latest news, there's a huge fire in the Oil Ocean," Vector explained. "Where there's trouble, Sonic's likely to try to stop it."

"Hold on, something's wrong," Espio said. "Call me paranoid, but I think we're being watched."

"You worry too much," Charmy said.

"No, he's probably right," Luigi argued. "Then again, I know I'm paranoid."

"At least you admit it," Mario laughed.

"Who in the world would be watching us?" Peach asked. "It's not like Bowser knows we're here."

"You guys go on ahead," Espio said. "Someone is here."

"And let you have all the fun?" Mario asked. "Don't let the plumbing fool you, I'm a hero!"

"Which one of you is Mario?" asked Shadow, who was hiding behind a bush.

"I am," Mario said. "Who do you think you are?"

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog," Shadow said, "and I have orders to terminate you."

"It's six against one," Luigi said. "Even I'm not afraid to face you with those odds!"

"Shadow?" Vector said. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon!"

"Again? I don't know what you're talking about," Shadow said. "Do I know you?"

"You can't remember?" Espio asked. "You were with Rouge and that robot."

"Omega," Charmy said. "The robot was named Omega."

"We helped Sonic stop that evil robotic dragon thing," Vector said, "and you did too!"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Shadow said, "and it doesn't change a thing. Mario, prepare to fall!"

**watch?v=8V5khGxMuHs**

Shadow went straight for Mario, ignoring everyone else.

"What did Mario ever do to you?" Peach asked.

Shadow ignored her and kicked at Mario. Mario ducked to dodge the attack and gave a sweeping kick to counter. Shadow jumped to dodge the attack, and punched at Mario on his way down. Mario was hit, but it was a light blow. Espio threw a ninja star at Shadow, grazing the hedgehog's shoulder.

"So it's official," Espio said. "You are now our client's adversary."

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!" Charmy said as he swooped down to sting Shadow.

Shadow was now aware that focusing solely on Mario wasn't going to work, so he dodged the attack and kicked Charmy to the ground. Charmy was stuck in the dirt by his stinger. Peach took out her frying pan and swung at Shadow, giving him a headache.

_They're right, I can't win when I'm outnumbered like this_, Shadow thought to himself. _I'll have to pick them off one by one. _

With that, Shadow went over to Charmy, kicked the helpless bee a few times, and ran off.

"Charmy, are you okay?" Espio asked.

"I want the chocolate one, Mommy..." Charmy said.

"Snap out of it, little guy!" Vector said as he pulled Charmy out of the ground, then started shaking him as he shouted, "We've got a job to do!"

"Woah! Hey, stop that!" Charmy shouted. "I'm okay! Vector! I said I'm fine!"

Vector kept shaking him until Luigi tapped him on shoulder.

"What is it?" Vector asked, still shaking Charmy.

Luigi just pointed to Charmy. Vector looked at Charmy, saw that he was okay, and stopped shaking him.

"Heh heh, yeah..." Vector laughed nervously. "Sorry about that, Charmy!"

"I'll accept your apology when everything stops spinning," Charmy said.

**watch?v=aO_z2nO3ByM**

"Okay," Robotnik started, "you have plenty of time to get the Master Emerald, it's getting off of the island that will be difficult. First, before you do anything, you need to connect ten cables to the edges of the island. They won't hold the island long, but they'll do the job. After they're connected, go ahead and take the Master Emerald. After you take it, that's when you have to start worrying. The cables will only last about five minutes. You have to get the Emerald back here within that time, and climb back onboard. If you're still in the temple that holds the Emerald after that, the cables will break and the island will fall into the sea, flooding the temple and the caves, drowning you if you're in them.

"Now, get the Master Emerald! Then, we shall commence operation Master Plan!"

"What a lousy name," Wario said. "How about, operation Mega Money Master?"

"Call it whatever you want, just get me that Emerald!"

"Now you're talking!" Wario said as he didn't hesitate for even a second before going off in search of the legendary jewel.

After attaching the cables, Wario rushed into the Sky Temple, home of the Master Emerald. The place was magnificent, with strange hyroglyphics on the wall.

"Maybe this will lead me to treasure!" Wario said as he pulled out his copy of Ancient Koopaharian for Dummies.

"Let's see, this says:

_**To those of you of higher virtue, **_

_**We warn and beg you pay heed to, **_

_**This warning which we now give, **_

_**So that all worlds may live. **_

_**The son of the mother must fall, **_

_**Or else he shall be the doom of us all, **_

_**If ever he comes, two warriors we need, **_

_**To make sure the evil will never succeed! **_

_**Signed, **_

_**T-al -d G-n- **_

"Oh great, I can't make out the last line!" Wario sighed. "Oh well, didn't sound like it was leading me to treasure anyways... 'son of the mother', what whacko wrote that moronic poem?"

Wario sighed again, and decided to go deeper into the temple. Along the way, he saw a dusty mosaic. The picture showed a a warrior wearing gold armor fighting off a great evil. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the warrior was Sonic, and the evil was the EES Death Egg that Eggman had described.

"This place gets weirder by the second," Wario said. "There's no way a mosiac that old could be a picture of that!"

Wario looked around, and saw the shrine of the Master Emerald. He got behind it, then ran towards it and grabbed the Master Emerald, not stopping as he ran. Right when he removed the Master Emerald, there was a minor earthquake as the cables instantly took the weight of the island. Wario didn't let that bother him though; he ignored it, and wasn't even slowed by the tremor. Wario saw the exit to the cave, when all of a sudden, an evil voice laughed.

"Quite a simple plan Eggman has come up with this time," the voice said. "Usually, his ideas are much more elaborate."

"Who's there?" Wario asked.

**watch?v=WicJrGIPQpc**

"The one who's been following you since you first set foot into this world," the voice explained, "and I can offer you much more than one mere jewel."

Wario still couldn't see who was talking to him, but he did see a hand holding out a Chaos Emerald being handed to him.

"Ooh, shiney!" Wario said as he put his hand out to take it.

The mysterious figure snatched his hand away and said, "Not so fast, first you must agree to do what I say, starting with using this jewel to destroy Robotnik."

"Whatever you say, new boss!" Wario said as he took the Chaos Emerald.

The earthquakes started to become violent.

"What are you doing down there, you fool?" Robotnik asked over the radio. "The cables are going to give any second! Get back here now!"

"I'm coming!" Wario said over the radio. "And quit your griping!"

"You'll need greater speed if you wish to make it out of here alive," the mysterious figure said, "so simply use the Emerald's power of CHAOS CONTROL!"

With that, the figure dissappeared. Wario did as the figure had said, and used Chaos Control to slow down time long enough for him to get back to the Egg Carrier. He noticed that as he stepped outside, he could see a cable breaking as he went towards the Egg Carrier. The strong wires that the cable consisted of seemed to be slowly untwisting. He decided not to check to see if the effect was going to wear off any time soon, so he immediately climbed up one of the cables that was still solid.

"I'm here!" Wario said as he deactivated the Chaos Emerald, "and I brought you a message!"

"Give me the Master Emerald, you fool!" Robotnik said. "You sure took your sweet time getting here!"

**watch?v=YEhux2AGF-s**

"He doesn't work for you anymore," Metal Sonic said as he used another Chaos Emerald to teleport into the room. "Now, tell me, Doctor Eggman, how exactly does this magnificent battle station work? Oh, wait, I forgot, I could easily build one a thousand times larger, and did so before!"

"What do you want from me?" Robotnik asked in a panicy voice. "You forget that I created you? I could easily undo the process should you prove to be a mistake."

"If so, then why haven't you done it already?" Metal Sonic laughed. "But I'm not here to destroy you. Rather, I'd like to make an alliance with my former master."

"I thought you wanted me to kill him!" Wario said.

"You'll get plenty of shining stones, don't worry about it!" Metal Sonic said. "But I'd rather have a slave then an enemy."

"A slave? That doesn't sound like much of an alliance!" Robotnik said.

"It's either that, or I crush this!" Metal Sonic said as he held up the IDMET.

"You wouldn't dare!" Robotnik said in a frenzied panic. "You fool! Do you not know what would happen?"

"I know quite well, and this time, Smithy and I aren't planning on letting another one merge with it." Metal Sonic laughed. "What do you say, oh humble servant of mine?"

Robotnik grumbled a bit and then said, "Whatever you wish for me to say."

"Very good, and you'll start by explaining the every function of this machine!"

**Dang! Did Metal Sonic just up and become a truly sinister villain?! Next time: Team Sonic dukes it out with the Koopa family!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Chaos Control (Part 2)

**Author's Note: This chapter is a lot like a level in a Sonic game: short yet hectic! Pay attention, a lot of important things happen in this chapter! Also, I based the revelation about Shadow off of a story fork I took in my Shadow the Hedgehog game where the real Shadow actually DID die at the end of Sonic Adventure 2 and you were playing as a Eggman-made copy. Enjoy! **

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

"We could always try and rebuild the Tornado again," Tails said. "I've had blueprint designs for the Tornado 3 for quite a while now."

"No, rebuilding it would take too long," Sonic disagreed. "We need to get the Chaos Emeralds again. Knuckles, where'd you put them?"

"They're in the shrine with the Master Emerald, why?" Knuckles asked.

"Hey, do you guys hear a helicopter?" Tails asked.

Everyone stopped talking, and sure enough, they could hear one in the distance.

"Let's see what it is," Tails recommended. "There aren't any major air routes that fly over this part of the hills, and nothing was registered earlier today."

"How do you know that?" Amy asked.

"You think I fly a plane and don't know standard airport regulations?" Tails asked. "All flights on Mobiüs must be registered. All we have to do is check the Tornado's onboard computer."

"No need for that, Tails, I can see the, whatever that thing is, from here," Knuckles explained.

They didn't know what the thing was, but what really confused them was the fact that it was flying at all. It looked like nothing more than a large bowl-shaped machine with a clown face painted on it, and a single propeller underneath it to keep it afloat.

"How in the world is that thing flying?" Sonic asked. "It defies all logic!"

"I'll check inside of it," Tails said as he flew up until he could see that Bowser was inside.

**watch?v=zIP38UbV-5g**

"What are you doing here?" Bowser asked.

"Sonic! It's that turtle from the Mushroom Kingdom!" Tails shouted.

Bowser threw a Mechakoopa at Tails, knocking the fox to the ground. Tails wasn't really hurt by the attack, just knocked out of the air.

"I'm a Koopa, you fool!" Bowser shouted. "And not just any Koopa! No, I am Bowser, KING of the Koopas!"

"Well, turtle king, perhaps you'd like to explain what you're doing here!" Knuckles said as Tails got into the Tornado.

"I'm a Koopa!" Bowser shouted as he dropped a bowling ball near Sonic.

"Okay, turtle man, I take back what I said earlier; now that defies logic!" Sonic said as he jumped out of the way.

At that time, Tails started up the Tornado, and took off.

"KOOPA! K-O-O-P-A! KOOPA!" Bowser shouted as he threw five Mechakoopas to the ground, "KOOPALINGS! ATTACK!"

All eight of the Koopalings appeared from behind a small group of trees.

**watch?v=V0VHnM1PV9s**

"Can we do this some other time?" Larry asked. "I'm still sore from the last time we fought them."

"Stop your whining, wimp!" Roy shouted. "It's payback time, Enchida!"

"It's pronounced Echidna!" Knuckles said. "And you idiots really think you can take us on? Look what we just did to the ocean!'

The eight of them looked at the flaming Oil Ocean and took a few steps back.

"What are you talking about, Knuckles? That Exor thing did that!" Amy said. "Did you leave your brain back there or something?"

The Koopalings sighed with relief and went forward again.

"Real smooth, Amy!" Sonic said. "He was trying to scare some of them off!"

"Why do that when we can take them on?" Amy asked. "It'll be easy! You're always saying what fun it is to stop the bad guys, and you know I'm not bad with a hammer myself!"

"Did ze say hammer?" Ludwig asked nervously.

The Koopalings stepped backwards again.

"Yeah, I'm invincible with my Piko Piko hammer!" Amy said gleefully as she held up her prized weapon.

When the Koopalings realized that she wasn't talking about the type of hammer used in the Super Smash Bros. tournaments, they gave another sigh of relief and stepped forward yet again. Roy was being his aggressive self, as he was the first to attack. He swiped his claw at Amy, who stepped backwards to dodge the attack.

"Where's that fox?" Iggy asked. "Lemmy and I want to show him what a real water gun looks like!"

Iggy and Lemmy pulled out some water guns made by Ludwig, both about a quarter as powerful as the bomber nozzle, which they still didn't even know existed. The two of them started shooting the water at Sonic, who had trouble dodging the quick blasts.

"So you're the ones who took my veautiful water zooters!" Ludwig shouted. "After zis is over, you two will ve dead!"

Wendy slashed at Sonic with her claws. Sonic jumped back, but into the way of a water bullet. Although it wasn't as bad as he expected, it knocked him back, and injured his left shoulder.

"That stings!" Sonic said as he got back up. "You can dish it out, but can you take it in?"

Sonic jumped up and kicked at Morton.

"Hey! I don't like being attacked, hit, assaulted, injured, mugged..." Morton started.

"Then you better shut up now!" Roy interrupted. "Got it, wimp?"

"Whose side are you on?" Wendy asked. "We're supposed to be attacking that hedgehog!"

"Stop arguing and take care of those four!" Bowser said, then recounted. "Hey, where's that fox?"

"Right here!" Tails shouted as he fired at the Klown Kopter from the Tornado.

The Clown Copter crashed into the ground. Bowser got out, roared, inhaled, and blew three fireballs at Tails. Tails dodged the first two, but the third hit the Tornado, ruining its lower right wing. Tails was having trouble keeping the Tornado in the air and had to land it to prevent from crashing.

"You're not the only one who knows how to ruin an air vehicle!" Bowser laughed.

Knuckles threw a punch at Iggy, knocking him into the ground. Lemmy saw his "twin" in trouble, and shot the water gun at Knuckles. It hit his left hand, paralyzing the lower part of his arm. Amy swung her hammer at Roy, knocking the bully into a tree. Ludwig used a shell charge to trip Knuckles. Lemmy shot another water bullet, this time at Amy. Amy dropped her hammer. Sonic kicked Wendy away, but Bowser put a small cut in Sonic's arm by swiping his claws.

"Do we really have time for this?" Tails asked. "We should be figuring out a way to stop Exor!"

"Hold everything!" Bowser shouted. "Fox kid, did you just say Exor?"

"Yeah, why?" Tails asked while trying to catch his breath.

"Well then, maybe you'd like our help," Bowser said. "I've got a bone to pick with that overgrown sword!"

**watch?v=PVyLTBO7Ck0**

Shadow was running over the ocean again, but this time, he spotted something that he didn't recognize last time: an island was in the middle of the ocean that was nowhere in sight last time. Shadow found that suspicious, and decided to check it out.

Islands don't just appear out of thin air, he thought. Why didn't I see this one on the way there?

Shadow thought about it for a moment, then realized that this was the island that he had seen floating a few hours ago.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look around," Shadow said to himself. "Besides, I've got a feeling I'll find something here."

And sure enough, he did.

"I don't know how, but I know this thing has to be a Chaos Emerald," he said. "I'm not sure what it does, but I'd better take it. It must be of great importance if I can remember it and nothing else."

"Hey, you're that Shadow guy!" Wario said. "What are you doing here?"

"You again? Well then, how goes your hunt?" Shadow asked.

"I'm under new management, and I still haven't even seen this Sonic the Hedgehog guy!" Wario complained. "But, at least I got paid!"

Wario held up the Chaos Emerald that Metal Sonic had given to him.

"Hey! That looks like another one!" Wario said as he spotted the Emerald in Shadow's hand.

"Do you know anything about these things?" Shadow asked. "And am I correct in assuming that it is called a Chaos Emerald?"

"I have answers for you," Robotnik laughed, "and you aren't really Shadow!"

"Who are you, and what do you know of me?" Shadow asked.

**watch?v=CvERHiTfx9w**

"I'm saying that you aren't even truly a hedgehog, you're not even completely organic!" Robotnik laughed. "I was trying to clone the real Shadow, but I couldn't quite perfect the process. You're part machine, part clone, and not one part of you is your own!"

"You, you're lying!" Shadow said. "I'm real enough to destroy you!"

"Stand down, Eggman!" Smithy said.

"What? Why are you here? You're that Smithy guy!" Wario said. "I've heard of you!"

"Well, we are partners," Metal Sonic said, "and phase two of the plan is almost complete: all is still going according to plan. Gadd will arrive soon."

"How do you know that?" Wario asked.

"We have our ways." Smithy laughed.

"Fine then, I'll destroy you all!" Shadow said. "I was warned of the one named Smithy, he is the enemy of my master's father!"

"If you wish to destroy me, I'd be happy to destroy you," Smithy laughed. "Come and try me!"

"I accept your challenge, just you and me!" Shadow said as he performed a tornado attack. Smithy whacked Shadow with his hammer, knocking the hedgehog into the ocean. Shadow jumped out of the water and got on top of Smithy's head, then started running in place to kick Smithy.

"Is that supposed to hurt?" Smithy laughed. "Pathetic!"

Smithy grabbed Shadow by the leg, and threw him into the ground. He then smashed Shadow's right hand, revealing circuitry instead of flesh.

**watch?v=WicJrGIPQpc**

"It's true..." Shadow said. "Then that would mean that..."

"I created you," Robotnik said, "and I am your true master!"

"If you created me, then tell me, what is my purpose?" Shadow asked.

"First of all, tell me, did you say you saw Mario?" Robotnik asked.

"Yes, why wouldn't I have?" Shadow asked.

"That means that they came here for something," Robotnik said. "Bowser! They must want to take Bowser back into the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"And what are your orders?" Shadow asked.

"Destroy Bowser, Sonic, Mario, and anyone who tries to protect them," Metal Sonic said.

"And you go, too. Understood, Wario?" Smithy said.

"Right, just don't give me the hammer!" Wario said.

"One last thing," Robotnik said. "Follow me to the Egg Carrier, and I'll repair that hand of yours."

**watch?v=50uUuVyq5m4**

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Professor Gadd was just coming around.

"Professor Gadd, are you quite all right?" Toadsworth asked.

"I'll be fine," Gadd said. "What happened...? That's right, the Mario Bros. went into Mobiüs, and Wario attacked me. Wait a minute, I just remembered!"

"Remembered what?" Toadsworth asked.

"When Roboshi attacked me, he knocked me out, giving me a concussion and causing me to temporarily forget what happened, but I just remembered!" Gadd explained. "He was created by Metal Sonic and Smithy. He was trying to get his hands on two things for his creators: the IDMET, and the Kronos Reactor! The only thing was, until then, the only place I even heard of the Kronos Reactor was in my head, I've actually known how to make it for almost twenty years. But I still don't understand, I've never written down anything about it, or even mentioned it to anyone until I created it and used it to open a portal to get Tails, Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy back to Mobiüs!"

"So how did they know you were going to make it?" Toadsworth asked.

"I'm not certain, but I'm going to find out," Gadd said as he gathered some supplies.

He took FLUDD and the Crystal Stars, and then shut down the Kronos Gateway.

"I thought you were going through there," Toadsworth said.

"I am, but first I have to attach the Kronos Reactor to a different means of controlling it," Gadd explained. "If I'm going to Mobiüs, I won't be able to operate the Kronos Reactor without taking it with me, so I'm making a portable gateway."

Gadd held up what looked like a large metal backpack, and wired it to the Kronos Reactor. Then he strapped FLUDD on over it.

"It's heavy," Gadd said, "but it'll do."

Gadd reached behind him and pressed a button. A portal appeared in front of him, and he jumped through it. The portal disappeared shortly afterwards.

**Next time: Bowser and Team Sonic take on Exor!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome to Chapter 7! Before we begin, I feel I must clear something up: The reason I've started calling Robotnik "Eggman" is to put to rest any confusion about if he's the classic cartoon version or the modern video game version. The Robotnik in these stories is in fact the video game version, so therefore Snivley WILL NOT make an appearance. I simply added and altered certain elements, such as Metal Sonic actually being Sonic's grandfather instead of his uncle. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7: Live by the Sword…

**watch?v=aO_z2nO3ByM**

"Okay Bowser, but don't think we're not keeping a close eye on you," Knuckles said.

"And don't expect us to be surprised when you try to kill us after we stop Exor," Tails said.

"Or expect us to actually believe you when you say you're not going to do that," Amy said.

"Finally, don't expect us to join your Koopa Club when we're done with this," Sonic said.

"That's Koopa Klan, who would be dumb enough to call themselves the 'Koopa Club'? That doesn't even begin to sound anywhere near as fearful as 'The Koopa Klan'!" Bowser laughed.

"Fearsome," Knuckles said.

"Bless you," Bowser replied.

"No, I said fearsome," Knuckles repeated. "You should have said 'as fearsome as The Koopa Klan', not 'as fearful as The Koopa Klan'. Fearful means your troops are afraid, fearsome means they put fear into those that see them... Oh, wait, never mind, you're right, it should be fearful."

"The second Exor is gone, you're a dead echidna!" Bowser threatened.

Sonic jumped behind Bowser, Tails got in front of him, Knuckles ran to his right, and Amy readied her hammer on his left. Bowser growled, then sighed.

"Fine, let's start planning the mission," Bowser sighed. "I'll need everyone to gather supplies while Ludwig reconstructs the doomships."

"Why do I have to build them by myself?" Ludwig complained.

"Do you see anyone else here who knows how to build a machine that can fly?" Bowser growled.

"What about me?" Tails asked. "I built the Tornado all by myself, a pretty sturdy set of wings if I'm not being too boastful."

"Okay, new plan! Sonic, Roy, and Knuckles will do the actual building of the doomships," Bowser explained, "Ludwig and Tails will do the planning and oversee the construction. Everyone else will gather the raw materials and then do any other things that I'm to laz- er, busy to do myself!"

"Brilliant!" Morton started. "Genius! Stupendous! Amazing! Incredible! Terrific!"

"SHUT UP!" yelled everyone else.

"So what about the actual fight against Exor?" Sonic asked.

"What about it?" Bowser asked.

"How do we beat him?" Sonic asked.

"We fight him, how else?" Bowser laughed."How dense can one Porcupo be?"

"Hedgehog, and I mean, what exactly are we going to do in the fight?" Sonic sighed.

"We destroy him," Bowser said. "What else?"

"What's the plan? We can't just go into a fight head on and expect to win," Knuckles sighed.

"Why not? How else is there?" Bowser laughed.

"We formulate a plan, using the information on Exor that you can provide us with," Tails started. "The plan should include a battle formation that avoids Exor's advantages in battle and uses his weaknesses against him."

Ludwig laughed. "My fazer, strategize! Zere is a good laugh! I can't even lose to him in zess when I try to let him win!"

"Dungeon! One month!" Bowser shouted.

"Very funny, Fazer!" Ludwig laughed. "Vut you don't even a castle right now!"

Bowser growled, then said, "Fine! You can wait until I have a new castle, but now it's two months!"

Ludwig grumbled, but wasn't at all surprised by this turn of events.

"Everyone ready?" Sonic asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Then it's time to show this metal head what we're made of!" Sonic said.

**watch?v=MiAxiGZKpGQ**

"How much longer until we reach this Oil Ocean place?" Luigi asked as the sun beat down on them on Green Hill.

"Don't know, never been there before," Vector said, "but I can tell you this, you'll be regretting it if you forget to bring nose plugs, the place is supposed to stink!"

"Can't be worse than the sewers of Brooklyn," Mario said, "right, Luigi?"

"I can't believe you've never heard of the place," Espio said. "That ocean is the only known source of oil in the entire solar system, and you've never even heard of it."

"We're not exactly up on current events," Mario said. "There's a whole lot of things we don't know about Mobiüs."

"Did you guys flunk geography back in school or something?" Vector asked. "Even Charmy knows about the Oil Ocean, and he's only 6!"

"You probably wouldn't believe us if we told you," Peach said. "I'm not even sure that we completely understand it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Charmy asked. "Why wouldn't we believe our clients? If you guys lied to us, it would only take us longer to help you!"

"It's not that," Luigi said. "It's hard to explain… you see, we're not exactly from around here."

"That much is obvious," Vector laughed. "You live in a cave or something?"

"No, that's not what he means, is that we aren't from Mobiüs," Mario said. "We're not even from this dimension."

"Seriously, where are you guys from?" Espio asked.

"He was serious," Peach said. "I'm the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Aren't you a little old to be a princess?" Charmy asked. "I always thought princesses were anywhere from 6 to 14 years old."

"You read too many fairytales," Espio sighed.

"What do you expect?" Vector asked. "Everyone does when they're 6… it's all that they can read!"

"Hey! I can read more bigger books!" Charmy said.

"More bigger?" Espio echoed.

"Hey! Can you guys see that smoke?" Charmy asked as he pointed beyond the horizon.

Sure enough, when they looked ahead, they could see it.

"We haven't got any time to waste, we can't let a fire go on unchecked," Mario said.

**watch?v=dll0opu5D6g**

Inside of Smithy's new factory, Smithy, Shadow, Wario, Eggman, and Metal Sonic were all gathered.

"Preparations for our attack are almost complete," Shadow said. "We should be ready to strike within the hour."

"Excellent, now we need one last thing before the assault," Smithy explained. "An old man should be but a mile north of here. He is carrying an object of great power. You will attack him and take whatever he is unable to secure before he escapes, but you will not pursue after him, understood?"

"Immediately," Shadow said as he ran off.

"As for you," Metal Sonic said to Eggman, "it appears that Sonic is preparing to strike our gateway with Bowser's help. We need you to keep them busy long enough for Shadow to retrieve the Crystal Stars. Wario has the Chaos Emeralds, and will be able to help you once we are ready for the attack."

"All my scientific genius and you're wasting my talents as a decoy?" Robotnik asked as he pointed to Wario. "You think I'll just stand back and play second fiddle to this moron?"

"Are you challenging us?" Smithy laughed. "Do you really think we need you?"

"On second thought, being a distraction sounds quite entertaining," Robotnik laughed.

"Good to see you're finally giving that huge brain of yours some use," Metal Sonic mocked.

Eggman mumbled insults as he left to take the EES EggCarrier III to defend Exor.

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

"It's them!" Mario said as he pointed to Sonic. "We've found them!"

"Then what are we paying these guys for?" Luigi asked.

"Hey! We did our job!" Vector said. "You never even heard of the Oil Ocean until we told you!"

"What are you plumbers doing here?" Ludwig asked. "It's vad enough zat we have to work with zis rodent, now you're here!"

"What's the matter, Lugnut? You afraid of us?" Sonic taunted.

"An explanation would be nice," Mario said.

"Giant sword has turned the Oil Ocean into the world's biggest bonfire, he was too strong for us to take alone, and Bowser seemed to know about him. He needed our brains, we needed… wait, why did we need Bowser's help?"

"We were hoping he'd have a tactic for bringing the thing down," Tails sighed.

"So Exor has been here!" Mario said. "How long has he been here, do you know?"

"At least three months," Tails explained. "I thought it was just a dream. Every night I would see the sword fall into the Oil Ocean; I thought maybe it was just the bad memories I had from the place, so I ignored it. But I was wrong, I should have known it… especially since it stopped while we were in the Mushroom Kingdom, but I didn't think it was important. I should've told someone…"

"It isn't your fault, Tails, I don't think any of us would have done things differently," Sonic said.

Just then, Bowser walked out from behind some trees.

"Mario! What are you doing here?" Bowser shouted. "You're supposed to be at home, putting everything into that horrible policy you call peace!"

"I actually came here to take you back home," Mario said, "but we've got something more important to do at the time."

"So, you ready to take this sword down?" Sonic asked.

"It's not the first time this overgrown portal has forced me to work with Bowser," Mario explained, "but I sure hope it's the last!"

"Well then, you know what they say about those who live by the sword," Peach said.

"Right," Knuckles agreed. "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword!"

**Next time: The fight against Exor!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welcome to chapter 8! Enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Die By the Sword

**watch?v=gutJwmf1npU**

"Zis is Captain Koopa reporting," Ludwig said. "Captain Mario, Captain… Sonic, what is your surname?"

"My what?" Sonic asked.

"He means your last name," Mario said.

"I don't have a last name," Sonic said.

"Just shut up and takeoff already!" Bowser shouted. "Or else you'll all be stripped of your ranks!"

"You know, an honorary title just doesn't mean much when it comes from you," Peach said to Bowser. "And since when do you know enough about military strategy to be called 'Admiral Koopa'?"

"Just takeoff already!" Bowser whined.

Mario, Sonic, and Ludwig started up their doomships.

Mario's crew consisted of Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Iggy, and Lemmy. Sonic's crew consisted of Knuckles, Espio, Charmy, and Vector. Ludwig's crew included Roy, Morton, Wendy, and Junior. Bowser used the Klown Kopter, and Tails used the Cyclone2.

"On my mark, 3, 2, 1, lift off!" Tails shouted via radio.

Everyone but Bowser took off simultaneously. Bowser, upset that he didn't get to give the order, used his radio to complain. "What part of the word admiral do you not understand?"

"Just come on!" Mario said. "We haven't got time for this!"

Bowser roared wildly for a few minutes, then joined up with the others in the Klown Kopter.

**watch?v=50uUuVyq5m4**

Back at the edge of the Green Hill Forest, the professor was heading towards the fire, since he knew that where there's trouble, you'll more than likely find Mario trying to stop it.

"Whew! Traveling sure is harder with arthritis!" the professor panted. "I remember being able to walk for almost a day and feel fine… I guess age is finally catching up with me, and she is one harsh mistress!"

"She's not the only one that's catching up!" Shadow laughed from behind a tree.

"Who's there?" Gadd asked.

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

"Just hand over anything useful you might have," Shadow said.

"You mean anything of value, right?" Gadd laughed. "Well, all I have is this backpack and a water pump, so why don't you just give up right now?"

"I said anything useful, and that's what I meant. How about I take that star-shaped object in your pocket then?" Shadow asked.

"You can't have anything from me!" Gadd said. "What part of no don't you understand?"

"What part of old and frail don't you understand?" Shadow asked.

Gadd laughed a bit, then replied, "I understand perfectly well what both of those words mean, but only one of them fits my description!"

"Is that a challenge?" Shadow asked.

"I don't take thievery lightly," Gadd said. "But I don't enjoy fighting either, so how about we just both go our separate ways?"

"For an old geezer, you sure are stubborn," Shadow said.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Gadd asked. "That's it, if you think that just because I'm old that means I can't defend myself, you've got another thing coming, youngin'!"

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" Shadow laughed as he jumped towards the professor while swinging his fist.

"You're just full of hot air," Gadd said as he used the Cronos Engine to slow down time enough that he could dodge Shadow's attack.

"How did you manage to do that?" Shadow asked. "There's no way someone with a body that frail could have moved so quickly!"

"You're going to regret that comment, sonny!" Gadd said as he used the Cronos Engine to slow down time enough that he was punching faster than Shadow could move.

The punch sent Shadow flying into the air, but the robotic hedgehog didn't stop to tend to his wounds. Shadow tried to take the Crystal Stars, but Gadd was able to dodge his attempt easily.

**watch?v=lMDeVnp4teQ**

"Full power to the engines!" Dr. Robotnik shouted from the bridge of the Eggcarrier. "Load all weapons! All radars to optimum range! Prepare for lift off!"

"What do I do?" Wario asked as the mammoth engines roared.

"You'll be testing out a special invention that I've made for you, an armor that can fit anyone, even a person of your enormous girth!"

"Well look at the Pider calling the Piranha Plant poisonous!" Wario said. "And for the record it's all muscle!"

"Did you just call me overweight?" Eggman snarled. "I doubt that you even possess the intelligence to operate my machine!"

"A new toy, can I beat up Mario with it?" Wario asked.

"Don't forget about the hedgehog!" Robotnik reminded him. "I will not have the Eggshell wasted before I can even get proper data on it!"

"What kind of name is the 'Eggshell'?" Wario asked.

"Just hurry up and put it on, it'll increase what little strength you have ten-fold!" Robotnik said.

"What kind of weapons does it have?" Wario asked.

"You'll have super-human strength and be almost untouchable with it on, what else do you want?" Eggman asked. "I mean really, what do you want me to do, make you into some sort of deity? Ha! If I ever make something like that, it's going to me and me alone, understand?"

"Eggman, we have arrived!" said a robot over the radio. "The enemy is advancing on our position in three large ships and two small fighters!"

"What? Repeat that immediately! Did you just say that they have three ships?" Robotnik asked.

"That is correct," said the robot.

Eggman laughed sinisterly for a moment, then regained his composure, and said, "This is the thing I love best about being an evil genius, I get to obliterate everything they create in a pathetic attempt to stop me!"

**watch?v=7xIROEtMCHA**

"Did he rebuild it again?" Sonic asked. "Tails, do you see what I see?"

"I see it!" Tails said. "The EggCarrier shouldn't pose too much of a threat!"

"Well, we never did get to properly thank Ivo for stranding us here," Bowser laughed. "All ships open fire!"

"Roger that, Fazer!" Ludwig said. "Sonic, get along ze EggCarrier's port! Mario, you get the starboard! We shall assault the bow!"

"What did he just say?" Sonic asked. "Could you cut out the naval talk and give it to us in English?"

"He wants us to surround the EggCarrier with you guys on the left, Ludwig will take the front, and Mario will take the right," Tails said. "Bowser, follow me through for an attack run! If this is as much like the first two EggCarriers as it seems to be, I should be able to lead you in for an attack run… What is your helicopter armed with?"

"Twenty Mechakoopas and two jumbo cannonballs," Bowser said.

"What are Mechakoopas?" Tails asked.

"Let me just put it this way, when you don't have an army to board the ship, use these little guys to do the job!" Bowser laughed. "We'll see who can build a better robot!"

"Are they attempting to surround us?" Robotnik asked.

"Affirmative," said a robot over the radio. "Which one do you wish for us to launch Wario onto?"

"Do we know which ship Sonic is on?" Robotnik asked.

"That is a negative, sir!" the robot replied.

"Then fire at the middle one. If Sonic isn't leading the attack, then it must be Mario! We need to eliminate those two before we worry about anything else!"

**watch?v=G5GwEb1g-HU**

"Starboard cannons fire!" Mario shouted. "Iggy, Lemmy, make sure those cannons don't break! Luigi, how are things in the engine room?"

"It's fine, surprisingly enough," Luigi said.

"Well, looks like Bowser might have actually used his head when designing these things!" Mario mocked. "Peach, are you ready to take over my post?"

"Don't worry about us!" Peach replied. "Just get on there and capture the EggCarrier!"

"Sonic, you ready?" Mario asked.

"Sure thing, all these military terms are making my head spin!" Sonic said. "Knuckles can be the captain right now for all I care!"

"We're hit!" Ludwig shouted. "Wait a minute, it didn't damage us; what is it, then?"

"I think it's Wario!" Roy replied. "But he looks like he's wearing some sort of egg!"

"Wario? He's no big deal! Roy, throw him overboard!" Ludwig said.

"I'm trying, but he won't budge!" Roy said.

"Hey!" Wario shouted. "No one throws me overboard!"

Wario then stood up and punched Roy in the face.

"Hey! That's my job!" Roy complained as he swung back.

The punch did nothing to Wario, who just stood there and laughed.

"I think we might have a bit of a problem!" Roy shouted. "We could use a bit of help over here!"

"Mario, Sonic, one of you get over here right now!" Ludwig shouted.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Sonic said. "Tails, can I get a ride?"

"I'm passing under the ship in three, two, one, now!" Tails said as Sonic jumped onto the wing of the Cyclone. Tails then flew over Ludwig's doomship and Sonic jumped off.

"We have located Sonic!" a robot said. "He has just jumped onto the middle ship!"

"So he's going to try to stop Wario," Robotnik said. "And what of Mario, do we know which ship he is on?"

"Negative, are you even sure he's here?" the robot asked.

"Smithy and Metal Sonic may not be trustworthy, but they certainly know what they're talking about; Mario is here!" Robotnik argued.

"He's closer than you think!" Mario said over the radio after jumping onto the EggCarrier and stomping on the robot's head.

"What?" Robotnik shouted. "How did he do that? Nonetheless, initiate battle mode!"

"Roger that!" said a robot from the control room.

Just then, the EggCarrier spread its wings, and the bridge was raised up.

"Let's see him get through this!" Robotnik laughed.

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV**

_I can't keep this up much longer!_ Gadd thought to himself. _If I keep using the Kronos Engine, I could tear the very fabric of time and space apart! _

Gadd shut down the Kronos Engine and started to run, but without the power of time to aid him, Shadow easily caught up with him.

"So that's what those star-like objects are for," Shadow laughed, thinking that they were the source of the professor's speed. "But it seems as though they have failed you."

Shadow took the Crystal Stars from Elvin and then tried to punch him in the head. Gadd was knocked to the ground by the blow.

"Fine, keep those, but I'm not going to let you take what you came for!" Gadd said as he reactivated the Cronos Engine.

With that, Gadd ran off.

"What did he mean by that?" Shadow asked himself aloud. "I'd better get back to the factory."

"We're taking heavy damage over here!" Luigi said. "Tails, do you think you could take out some of those lasers on the wing?"

"I'm on it!" Tails said. "Bowser, follow me! I need you to release those Mechakoopas after we take make sure that Peach's ship is safe!"

"Bowser Koopa Senior takes orders from no man!" Bowser argued.

At that moment, a few lasers passed right in front of the Klown Kopter.

"But then again, you are technically a fox," Bowser cowered. "So lead the way!"

"Stand back, I've got Wario!" Sonic said.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to get out of your way!" Wendy said as she ran down to the control room. "Ladies first!"

"Yeah right!" Roy said. "I don't run away from fights, I start them!"

"Well then, how about I finish it?" Wario asked as he stomped on Roy's foot.

"Hey, Egghead Junior!" Sonic said. "Let's see you hit something you can't see!"

"What did you call me?" Wario asked. "That's it, now I'm going to kill you twice!"

"Wow, you're even dumber then you look," Sonic said. "And you look pretty dumb to begin with!"

Wario tried to headbutt Sonic, but Sonic simply jumped out of the way.

"Gotta be faster than that to catch me!" Sonic taunted.

Wario turned around as he swung a fist at Sonic. Sonic quickly ducked to dodge the blow. Sonic jumped on top of Wario's head, looked down, and waved at him. Sonic then tried to use a spin dash to break the helmet with no luck.

There's not a dent on it! Sonic thought to himself as he looked around. Why do they even have masts on a flying ship? Wait, that's it!

"Stand still for a moment!" Wario shouted.

"Have it your way," Sonic said as he stood in front of the mast. "I'm waiting!"

Wario tried ramming into Sonic with his elbow. Sonic stepped aside at the last moment, sending Wario flying into the mast. The mast fell down, landing right on Wario's head.

"Glad that's over!" Sonic said. "Now to go help Mar- Hey!"

Wario threw the mast overboard and laughed.

"Shouldn't you be unconscious right about now?" Sonic asked. "And if you could throw the mast so easily, why didn't you just use it as a weapon to hit me with?"

Sonic ran over to Wario, and tried to punch him in the eyes. Wario grabbed Sonic's hand and picked him up.

"Rat overboard!" Wario shouted.

"Wait, you're not calling me a rat, are you?" Sonic asked. "Because that would mean that you're about to toss me into the water."

"So?" Wario asked. "It's not like you can't swim!"

"Well then, why not finish me off up here?" Sonic asked.

"Because I want to use a ground pound on you!" Wario said as he pulled his hand back to throw Sonic.

Mario had just reached the bridge when he found another robot with a radio. Mario quickly punched it and used the radio to mock Robotnik.

"You call those traps?" Mario asked. "Please, there are gymnasts that could have done that easily!"

Mario started to reach for the door when he heard a strange sound behind him.

"You again?" Shadow asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Well if it isn't the rodent doppelgänger!" Mario said. "Face it, you're done causing trouble!"

"Oh really?" Shadow said as he kicked the radio out of Mario's hand. "It seems like you're the one who's outmatched. Robotnik, I have what we came for!"

"Fine then, keep that plumber from escaping!" Robotnik shouted.

Mario dropped to the floor laughing. After he regained his composure, he snatched the radio back from Shadow. "I'm not sure about Sonic, but I don't make running away a habit of mine!"

"Then perhaps it's time I taught you a new trick!" Shadow said as he tried to jump on top of Mario.

Mario dodged out of the way and laughed, surprised that anyone would try to jump on him. Mario swung a fist at Shadow, but Shadow simply rolled under Mario. Shadow then ran up on top of the bridge.

"Going up?" Shadow asked. "Or does the term vertigo bring fear to your mind?"

Mario ignored him, backed up, and used a triple jump to reach the roof of the bridge.

"Robotnik, he's taken the bait!" Shadow said. "Activate the barrier!"

"Very good, now don't fail me!" Robotnik said as an electrical bubble surrounded the bridge's roof.

"Regardless of what happens in our little bout, this will be your grave, and I will complete my mission, even if I am terminated in the process." Shadow laughed.

"The only thing you've done is trapped yourself!" Mario said. "Let's see you survive this!"

Mario charged up his Firehand until it collapsed on itself and made an explosion that filled up the whol barrier. Smoke and ashes filled the air and clouded Mario's sight. When the smoke cleared, what Mario saw wasn't an evil hedgehog, but an evil robot which had the framework of a hedgehog.

"In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not truly Shadow the Hedgehog, or even an organic being!" Shadow laughed. "Your flames have no effect on me!"

"Fine then, I'll just do this the old fashioned way!" Mario sighed. "Here we go!"

"Can't I have a last request first?" Sonic asked.

Wario was just about to toss Sonic off the edge when the thief started sweating.

"Whew! It sure got hot all of the sudden!" Wario said. "I need a glass of water! Hey wait, we're above an ocean! I'll just use you as a surfboard!"

Just then, Wario realized that the armor was on fire.

"No one touzes my veautiful mast!" Ludwig shouted. "Fried eggs, anyone?"

"Thanks," Sonic said as he picked up a radio. "Tails, the Eggcarrier is escaping, could you give me a lift?"

"Roger that, I'll be in position in fifteen seconds!" Tails said. "Bowser, get ready to drop those Mechakoopas! All other ships, prepare to engage primary target!"

"How many times must I remind you?" Bowser growled. "I'm the admiral here!"

Despite the fact that he was angry, Bowser did as Tails asked, and kept behind the Cyclone. As Tails passed under the doomship, Sonic jumped down, landing on the Cyclone's right wing.

Shadow charged up a spin dash **[I know, and yes, just about everyone from Mobiüs can do that].** Shadow zoomed towards Mario, but the plumber quickly jumped over Shadow and landed behind him. They both turned around and ran towards each other. Shadow used a swiping kick, but Mario jumped up and kicked in the air at Shadow. Shadow rolled under Mario, and used a bicycle kick to hit Mario while he was in midair. Mario fell only inches short of the barrier. He immediately jumped back onto his feet, then used a Mario Tornado to give Shadow a barage of punches. Shadow was thrown in the air, and Mario jumped up and tried to punch Shadow into the ground. However, Shadow used a spin dash in the air to move himself out of the way. When they landed, Shadow jumped on top of Mario's head. Mario then laughed.

"That's my job," Mario said as he used an uppercut to knock Shadow off of his head. "It seems as though we're pretty evenly matched!"

"That is where you're mistaken," Shadow said. "I am a robot, after all, and I could fight all day and not get tired. You, however, are slowly getting tired, and you'll eventually lose all of your strength to fatigue!"

He's right! Mario thought to himself. If this keeps up, I'm just going to wear myself out! I have to think of something, and soon!

Professor Gadd finally reached the Oil Ocean's shore.

"According to this," he said as he looked at his watch, "the Power Stars should be in this direction."

He looked ahead and saw the Eggcarrier.

"Well, looks like I'm going to have to use this thing again afterwards," Gadd said.

The professor froze time, then used the oil to build stepping stones for him to climb on. When he was done, he climbed up the stairs and on top of the Eggcarrier, then he deactivated the Cronos Engine.

"Now to find that mad doctor!" Gadd said.

"Do you two see that?" Tails asked as he pointed to the barrier around the Eggcarrier's bridge.

"I see it," Sonic said. "But what is it?"

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't look like we should get too close," Tails said.

"Agreed, just drop me off on the deck," Sonic said. "I'll find Mario and help him."

"You forget that the Tornado doesn't have landing gear in combat mode," Tails said. "You'll have to jump off."

"Fine with me," Sonic said as he disembarked.

"Bowser, send those Mechakoopas to assault the Eggcarrier!" Tails shouted.

"Yes sir!" Bowser said, then proceeded to do so. After he had finished, he thought for a moment, then started growling loudly, and then shouted, "I'm the admiral of this fleet!"

**See you next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

**At last! After a REALLY long time, I've finally gotten this chapter done! The reasons for delay were: Writer's Block and I was trying to figure out how brainiac chess worked! Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: Battle of the Brains

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

"Hey, Professor!" Sonic said. "How did you get here?"

"Never mind that right now, we're all in grave danger!" Gadd replied. "We need to get control of this ship, do you know where Robotnik is?"

"Well, he's probably hiding on the bridge, but I still don't get it; one minute nothing's there, and then you just appear out of nowhere! Not even I can move that fast!" Sonic said.

"Please, we need to hurry!" Gadd said.

"Well then, can you handle a couple of Gs?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Gadd asked in a puzzled manner.

"Then hold on tight!" Sonic said as he grabbed the professor by the arm and started running towards the bridge.

"The EggCarrier is too fast for us to catch!" Knuckles said. "These ships just don't have the speed required for a chase!"

"Well I'm sorry!" Ludwig said sarcastically. "When I designed zese zips, I zought we would ve fighting a giant sword, not zasing a battle zip zat was designed to fight a war by itself!"

Larry laughed at Ludwig and then mocked, "So you're admitting it, his design is superior to yours?"

"Ve glad zat you're not on zis zip!" Ludwig threatened. "And I was given only a few hours to design zem! You can't expect me to work under zese conditions!"

"Is there any way we can make these things go faster?" Luigi asked.

"Not really," Ludwig admitted. "We're puzing ze engines to zeir limits as it is!"

"Tails, Bowser!" Vector shouted into the radio. "Try and take out an engine or two!"

"We're on it!" Tails said.

"What part of Admiral Koopa is so difficult to understand?" Bowser complained.

**watch?v=Xdd07zFGBP4**

Shadow started running towards Mario, then stopped about halfway.

_What is he doing now?_ Mario thought to himself.

Shadow then jumped up and got behind Mario. Mario turned around only to be kicked in the back.

"How did he do that?" Mario asked himself aloud as he got back up.

"You should just let me finish you," Shadow said. "You pose no more threat to me than a gnat would, so just accept your fate."

"If I can stop Smithy, then why do you think one of his slaves can defeat me?" Mario said. "I'm not just about to give up after all I've been through!"

"Your overconfidence shall be your undoing!" Shadow said as he ran over towards Mario just like last time.

"You think the same trick will work on me twice?" Mario asked. "Let me show you what I've learned from a little friend of mine!"

Mario ran towards Shadow as well, and passed him up by just a few inches. Mario then pulled his arm back as far as he could, and shoved it into Shadow's stomach (or at least where he would have one if he was the real Shadow.) Shadow fell to his knees.

"That's called a Silver Bullet," Mario said calmly. "Courtsey of Jinx."

"Pathetic organic being!" Shadow yelled as he got back up. "You dare to strike me?"

"You're scrap metal!" Mario shouted as he jumped up and went into a spiraling downward kick. **[For those of you the play Smash Bros, use his Down+A atttack while in midair to see what I'm talking about, because my description doesn't sound like it would be the same move as I want it to be. ] **

Shadow dodged with ease by jumping to the side. Shadow then used a sweeping kick to knock Mario down. Mario was hit, but he landed on his hands, and jumped up and towards Shadow. He stomped on Shadow, but the attack seemed to have little effect.

"Do you comprehend just what you're trying to do?" Shadow asked. "Machines are superior to beings of flesh in every way! We require no oxygen, we require no heat, we require no food! You, you require constant nourishment, sleep, food, water, you need to breathe every few seconds! And here you think you can defeat me! You organic beings never cease to amuse me!"

"Let me explain something to you, machines have just as many flaws as us 'organic beings'! While you may not age, you rust! You may not need to eat, but you need to be oiled! You may not require water, but you can't run without electricity! You think that you're superior? Evil will always be arrogant, and that is just one of the many reasons evil shall always fail!" Mario said. "I'll die before I let a world be ruled by evil! If you really think that I'm just going to sit back and watch the world end, then come on, just try and kill me!"

"You'll pay for those words!" Shadow said as he rushed towards Mario the same way he had when he knocked Mario to the ground from behind.

This time, Mario stood still, not turning around to watch Shadow, then, right as Shadow tried to kick, Mario grabbed him by the feet.

"Foolish move!" Shadow said as he turned on the rockets, burning Mario's hands, but as Shadow looked, he realized something. "Why aren't you burning? You're made of flesh! You should be ashes by now!"

Mario started to spin around as fast as he could, until he let go of Shadow, flinging him into the barrier. The barrier bounced him back, but overloaded his circuits in the process.

"How is it that I could be defeated so easily?" Shadow asked. "Before I shut down, I wish to know one thing... Why is it, that even though you know that they will eventually die, why do you still protect each other? It's in vain, and yet you'll jeopardize yourselves to preserve the function of another. Why?"

"Because, it's the right thing to do." Mario laughed. "What more reason do you need?"

"I've never seen the point in what you organic beings refer to as ethics, but it seems as that is the heart of your motives," Shadow said. "Truly, even as I diminish, I'm amused by you organics, and I must admit, your lack of logic never ceases to bewilder me. It's laughable, yet still, it's something that seems as though you enjoy it, it just doesn't make sense... Perhaps that is the difference between organics and machines... defying logic and gaining pleasure through protecting those that may someday make you obsolete. Aren't you ever worried that one of them might delete you?"

"Perhaps, but I think that's a chance I'll take," Mario said.

"I s-still don't under-erstand why you d-do it," Shadow said as he shut down.

"That is why you'll never win," Mario said. "Now how do I get out of here?"

Just then, Mario remembered that Shadow had mentioned having something of importance with him. Mario pulled out some wires, and eventually found the Crystal Stars.

"It's a good thing he didn't know how do use these," Mario sighed, "or else I'd be the one lying on the floor right now!"

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

The Tornado2 sliced through the air until it had caught up with the EggCarrier. Missiles launched from countless guns on the flying battle station, making Bowser and Tails have a hard time dodging all of them.

"So what exactly does the Tornado have?" Bowser asked. "Flamethrowers? Bombs? Maybe some napalm?"

"That would weigh it down too much and- wait a minute, did you just ask if I had a flamethrower equipped on an aircraft?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, why?" Bowser asked.

Tails sighed. "What purpose would a flamethrower have without getting in close enough for hand to hand combat? You'd have to get dangerously close for it to work!"

"Fighters!" Bowser shouted as he stared ahead.

"What was that?" Tails asked, then he looked up ahead and noticed that Robotnik had stopped firing from the EggCarrier and released an onslaught of robotic bees at them. "Buzzbombers!"

"That ought to keep them busy," Robotnik said. "Shadow, have you taken care of Mario yet? Shadow? Shadow, report!"

Robotnik slammed his fist on the control panel. "Well, I guess I could just leave him in the barrier to rot away... that might take a while, though. But he should only last a couple of days without water."

Just then, he heard a banging on the door.

"Impossible! The barrier is still in tact, there's no way Mario could have gotten through it alive!" Robotik shouted.

After kicking down the door, Sonic came in and complained, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? A new hero appears and I'm no longer able to stop you?"

"Sonic! But Wario said that he was keeping you busy!" Robotnik groaned. "Wait, never mind that, he probably jumped off after he saw how shiny the oil was, the moron!"

"Now, we fight!" said Gadd as he walked onto the bridge.

"Wait, what are you supposed to do, you're an old man!" Robotnik said.

"Does everyone in this universe have to point that out?" Gadd quirked. "Now you listen here, if you don't fight me in a competition, you'll have to fight Sonic in a battle!"

"You never mentioned a competition. Bring it on, old man!" Robotnik laughed.

"I trust you're familiar with the game of Chess?" Gadd asked with a smile.

"Why, yes, I have a Chess set down in the living quarters!" Robotnik laughed. "Just follow me."

The living quarters consisted of three rooms: Robotnik's bedroom, a swimming pool, and a small central room with a table and a chair.

"Not expecting much company, I see," Sonic pointed out. "Only one chair!"

"Not to worry," Gadd said, "I don't need to sit down to play. Just tell me where you move each piece in any form of notation."

"Fine then, are you black or white?" Robotnik asked.

"I'll take black. It's still your ship, so you should go first." Gadd said.

"So what are the stakes of this game?" Robotnik asked as he smiled sinisterly.

"First of all, if you lose, we get the Eggcarrier," Gadd said. "Secondly, if you win, you get the Coronus Engine. And finally, just to make things fun, whoever loses has to give up their trophies from their high school chess club!"

"If I can remember how many I even got..." Robotnik said as he pulled out his glass chess set.

"So how does the horse move?" Sonic asked.

"It's called a knight," Gadd said.

"So how does it move?" Sonic asked.

"Just watch and learn!" Gadd said. "I want to get control of the EggCarrier before we're inside of Exor."

"So why do we need the EggCarrier again?" Sonic asked.

"I've got a plan," Gadd said. "Just trust me."

The buzzbombers fired at the Tornado and the Koopa Klown Kopter from every direction. Tails and Bowser had such a hard time dodging the blasts, that they couldn't even aim at the buzzbombers.

"What do we do?" Bowser asked.

"If I knew, don't you think you would have made some idiotic comment about being the admiral?" Tails mocked.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Bowser snarled.

"Just keep dodging them, we'll figure out something eventually!" Tails said.

"Forget that, it's BBQ time!" Bowser said, and then inhaled.

Bowser exhaled a sea of flames at the buzzbombers.

"Well, there's a surprise," Tails laughed.

"What?" Bowser snarled suspiciously.

"You actually did something useful!" Tails mocked.

"That's it! I'm having fried wolf for dinner tonight!" Bowser said as he tried to catch the Tornado with his fire breath.

"First of all, I'm a fox," Tails complained. "And besides, a copter has no chance of catching an airplane, so just focus on what we came here to do!"

Just then, another wave of buzzbombers appeared.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Tails asked.

"Give me a chance to catch my breath already!" Bowser shouted, then thought to himself, I can't believe it's come down to this! I, Bowser, the great Koopa King, am reduced to taking orders from a child!

"Fine! I'll hold them off! Get ready to fire on my mark!" Tails said as he fired his machine gun at the advancing buzzbombers.

Tails was able to take out about thirty of them before they were within range.

"On my mark," Tails repeated. "In three, two, one, now!"

Bowser exhaled, incinerating the buzzbombers with ease. Again, a wave of buzzbombers was released. However, this time a set of robotic eagles followed behind them.

"What are those?" Tails asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Bowser asked. "You're the one who's used to this kind of stuff!"

"Why do they follow so far behind, I wonder?" Tails said.

"Who cares? More firewood is all they are!" Bowser shouted.

After releasing a wave of flames, the buzzbombers were defeated, but the Eggles were unharmed.

"Tails, what's going on?" Vector asked. "Why haven't you guys slowed down the Eggcarrier?"

"We're having a bit of trouble getting there," Tails replied. "If you want to help, then please, don't hesitate!"

"Tails!" Ludwig shouted. "According to my calculations, ze Eggcarrier will reaz Exor in avout fifteen minutes! If we have to fight them voz at ze same time, I'm not sure if ze doomzips can handle it!"

"We're trying!" Tails said. "But there are five robotic eagles that seem to have more than enough armor to shield them from our attacks!"

"Lure zem over here!" Ludwig shouted.

"What? Are you sure?" Tails asked in a puzzled manner.

"Oh, don't worry, we've got somezing zat can wipe them out with one vlow!" Ludwig laughed, then shouted, "Load ze Vanzai Vill!"

Although Tails couldn't make out much, he heard comments from Ludwig's siblings complaining about doing so.

"Um, Bowser, what exactly is a Banzai Bill?" Tails asked.

Bowser roared loudly, and then complained, "We were supposed to use those to take out Exor!"

"Well, do you have any ideas on how we take out these things?" Tails asked.

"We can launch the standard Bullet Bills!" Bowser said. "That should work just as well!"

"It's worth a shot," Tails said. "Let's do this!"

"You may start when you're ready," Gadd said.

"I'll open by advancing my pawn to queen four," Robotnik said.

**[I'll post the game in descriptive notation.] **

**watch?v=2N62VWPOM8g**

White I. E. Robotnik Black E. Gadd

1 P-Q4 P-K3

2 P-K4 P-Q4

3 N-QB3 P-QB4

4 N-B3 N-QB3

5 KPxP KPxP

6 B-K2 N-B3

7 O-O ...

"What a shock!" Sonic said sarcastically. "Robotnik cheated!"

"What are you talking about?" Robotnik asked angrily. "That move was perfectly legal!"

"You moved the king two spaces!" Sonic said. "And you moved the castle thing on the same turn!"

"Rook," Gadd said. "And that's called castling, it's a fair move."

"I'll never understand chess," Sonic said. "And I'll bet that no one will remember it twenty years from now."

Gadd chuckled, trying to hold in a laugh, while Robotnik fell to the floor laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Sonic asked.

"It's nothing," Gadd said as he placed his hand over his king's bishop. "And I believe it is my turn."

7 ... B-K2

8 B-KN5 O-O

9 PxP B-K3

10 N-Q4 BxP

11 NxB PxN

12 B-N4 Q-Q3

13 B-R3 QR-K1

14 Q-Q2 B-N5!

"A good move, Professor, but I'm afraid that your strategy is outdated!" Robotnik laughed.

"No strategies are outdated." Gadd smiled. "It's just a matter of how you use them! I promise you, you will resign the game in eight turns!"

"I've never lost a game in my life!" Robotnik bragged. "And I don't intend to allow you to be the first to defeat me!"

15 BxN RxB

16 QR-Q1 Q-B4

17 Q-K2 BxN

18 PxB QxP

19 RxP N-Q5!

20 Q-R5 QR-KB1!

21 R-K5 R-R3

22 Q-N5 RxB!

"An excellent streak of moves, but I've got you right where I want you!" Robotnik said as he reached for queen's rook. "So much for me resigning next turn!"

23 R-QB5 ...

"Certainly not a bad move," Gadd admitted. "But that doesn't save you."

"What do you mean?" Robotnik said. "There's no way you can force mate anytime soon!"

"I never said I would force mate, I said you would resign!" Gadd said. "I will now finish this game!"

23 ... Q-KN6!

24 Resigns ...

"Fine then!" Robotnik laughed. "I wasn't really happy working for Metal Sonic anyway!"

"Wait a minute!" Sonic said. "What just happened?"

"Well, you see," Gadd started, "the only move that he could have done after that was take my queen with his, which would have meant:"

24 QxQ N-K7ch

25 K-R1 NxQch

26 K-N1 NxR

"Yes, and that would have left him ahead of me by a rook," Robotnik said bitterly.

"Couldn't you have just used a pawn to take the queen?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, but then he could have mated me either that turn or the next turn, depending on which pawn I used."

"So where's the radio on this ship?" Gadd asked. "We need to radio the others and tell them to prepare for our assualt!"

"Over here, just allow me to recall the Eggles first," Robotnik said as he pressed a button.

**watch?v=NVnn0fVoiV4**

"Hey, why are they retreating?" Tails asked.

"They're obviously afraid of angering the great King of the Koopas!" Bowser said.

"Can anyone hear me?" Gadd asked over the radio.

"Professor?" Luigi asked. "Gadd, is that you?"

"Luigi! I've got excellent news!" Gadd shouted happily. "We've now got control of the EggCarrier!"

"That voice sounds familiar," Knuckles said. "Hey! You're the one who got us back home!"

"Correct," Gadd said. "Now we have to stop Exor as quickly as possible!"

"I'll launch the Eagles as soon as they've refueled," Robotnik said. "That overgrown butter knife won't see what's coming!"

"No, we continue as before until we're right by Exor, I've got a plan to make this look as convincing as possible," Gadd said. "Increase altitude of the middle doomship by exactly twenty-three meters, decrease the altitude of the doomship on its starboard by 3.75 meters, and leave the other one as it is. Continue to chase the EggCarrier. Tails, lead Bowser on a delta-5 type pass around the port wing of the EggCarrier!"

"Delta-5? What's that supposed to mean?" Tails asked.

"Just circle the wing and fire at it!" Gadd said. "Bowser, follow his path directly behind him!"

Bowser cried, but did as Gadd said.

"Release the Eggles and tell them to narrowly miss Bowser and Tails," Gadd said.

"Can I leave out the part about missing?" Robotnik joked.

"No," Gadd said as he turned and glared at Robotnik. "Where's Mario?"

"Well, I guess I should let him out now that we're allies." Robotnik sighed.

The barrier shut down, and Mario looked around cautiously before jumping down to the main deck. Below there, waiting for him was Sonic.

"Did you shut down that force field?" Mario asked.

"Actually, no," Sonic said. "That professor from your world has taken over the ship, and Robotnik is being forced to help us now!"

"Well then, looks like the only ones left are Smithy and Metal Sonic," Mario said. "And with the Crystal Stars on our side, we shouldn't have much trouble stopping them."

"Not exactly," Robotnik said as he came out to the deck. "They possess the Chaos Emeralds, as well as the Master Emerald."

"And to make matters worse, they have half of what they're really after," Gadd said. "Or, at least, they probably have it."

"You know something we don't," Mario said. "What are we trying to prevent?"

"Well, I'm not even sure if there's anything to worry about," Gadd said. "I'm probably just thinking it through a bit too much."

"You know that you're not paranoid," Mario said. "I can see it in your eyes, you're not worried about something that you think might happen, you're worried about something that you know will happen!"

"All right, while you and Sonic fought in the Koopahari Desert, a robotic Yoshi known as Roboshi attacked me," Gadd explained. "It asked what I knew about certain events, events that hadn't even occurred yet, as if it knew that they would occur. It asked where I kept the IDMET. The thing was, I'd never even heard of an IDMET until then, and it said that it was inevitable that its master would get the Kronos Engine and the IDMET. I knew what the Kronos Engine was, but I didn't mention it to Roboshi. I've known how to make the Kronos Engine for several years now, but I've never told anyone before I made it! The only possible way Roboshi could have known is if it or its master knew ahead of time what was going to happen, which could only mean... Smithy and Metal Sonic will get the Kronos Engine, it's the only way."

"Well, they certainly didn't know about you intervening, or else they would have had Roboshi kill you," Robotnik said. "And they obviously don't know about me betraying them."

"Are you serious?" Sonic asked. "You don't need to know about the future to know that you'd do anything to save your own skin!"

"That's right! There's only a minute left before we'll be within sight of Exor!" Gadd shouted. "We've got to hurry! Robotnik! Get some rope and meet us in the control room!"

"Rope?" Sonic asked. "Wait, you're not thinking of-"

"Actually, yes," Gadd said. "The three of us are going to be tied up momentarily."

"This does knot sound like a good idea," Sonic joked. "I mean really, trusting Robotnik to tie us up?"

"Well, let's get this over with," Mario said. "After all, we've got quite a few loose ends to tie up!"

A few moments later, everything was in position.

"Robotnik, did you succeed?" Exor asked.

"Did you really expect me to fail against those fools?" Robotnik laughed. "They're all wrapped up, all that's missing is the bow to place on top!"

"Well, Smithy will be happy," Exor said. "For once."

"Well, aren't you going to let me into the factory?" Robotnik asked.

"Come on then, make it quick!" Exor said as he opened his mouth.

As Robotnik started to advance the EggCarrier, Exor's top mouth began to glow.

"He's starting to fire a Corona blast!" Mario shouted.

"Robotnik, bank the EggCarrier to the left!" Gadd shouted.

"The EggCarrier is built for three things, speed, armor, and firepower," Robotnik explained. "Turning takes time, didn't you notice how long it took me to turn around towards Exor?"

"Well, I just hope that armor holds up then," Gadd said.

The blast hit the port wing, and took out one of the engines.

"One of the engines is down, and another badly damaged!" Robotnik said. "This means they knew this was going to happen!"

"That's it, I'm outta here!" Sonic said as he spin dashed in place to cut the ropes. "Let's do this."

"Wait, I've got a plan!" Mario said. "Robotnik, is the barrier a two way deal?"

"Yes, but why would... Oh, I get it." Robotnik laughed. "A simple plan, but it might actually work."

"We have to hold off a little bit longer!" Gadd said. "If we can give the doomships enough time to reach us, we shouldn't have too much difficulty getting into the factory."

"Easier said then done," Robotnik said. "If he takes out all the engines on either wing, then there will be no way for us to steer the EggCarrier. We'll be lucky to stay afloat without them."

"This thing can hover without the wings?" Gadd asked, surprised.

"Yes, but it would take so much fuel, it would fall in a matter of minutes," Robotnik explained.

"Tails, Bowser, draw Exor's attacks away from the EggCarrier," Gadd said. "Mario and Sonic will help you!"

"And what are we to do?" Robotnik asked.

"Simple, you tell the Eggles to stop acting, and attack Exor," Gadd said.

"Right," Robotnik said as he took the radio from Gadd. "All port, starboard, and bow cannons, open fire on Exor! All fighters, escort the EggCarrier with Divine Wind formation!"

"Divine Wind formation?" Gadd echoed. "Do you mean that the Eggles are meant for kamikaze missions?"

"Not really, but Divine Wind formation means that they'll form a shield in front of the EggCarrier, and they'll take any type of shots that get fired at us."

Mario jumped back up to the top of the bridge, while Sonic ran up the wall to reach it.

"Let's hope this works!" Sonic said.

"Agreed," Mario concurred. "And go for the eyes."

Mario held up his hand as he charged up a FireBrand. While Mario was charging it up, Sonic jumped up and homed in on Exor. Exor took a hit to the left eye, and Sonic jumped back. Exor inhaled, and then exhaled a blizzard. The attack knocked Sonic back, and extinguished Mario's FireBrand.

"I don't remember him being able to do that," Mario said.

"Maybe it's time you used those Crystal Stars," Sonic suggested.

"I've got a better idea," Mario said. "How about you use them?"

"What? We're not even sure what type of effect they'll have on me," Sonic said.

"If I turn metal, it'll only hinder my ability to jump. However, if I throw something metal, it should travel farther because of its weight," Mario explained. "I'm no professor, but basic physics says that velocity is equal to mass plus speed, and if we can increase your mass, then-"

"You can use me as a living bullet," Sonic said. "Well, I've got nothing better to do."

Mario tossed the Crystal Stars to Sonic, giving him the powers of the Metal Cap. Mario grabbed Sonic by the legs,spun around as fast as he could, and then let go of Sonic, hurling him at Exor. The right eye went down with a single blow.

Exor laughed, then said, "I don't need to defeat you fools to be victorious, I simply need to destroy your little ship."

Exor then blinked his right eye. A bolt of lightning struck the damaged engine.

"This isn't looking good, and what happened to that force field?" Mario complained.

"Yes, about that, the force field is powered by a reactor that's right between the wings," Robotnik explained over the radio. "When the Corona blast hit the engines, it created a chain reaction that short circuited the force field."

"Nice going," Sonic said. "If you're such a genius, why didn't you think to create something to protect the ship from chain reactions, some unheard of machine like, oh, maybe you could call it a surge protector!"

"Well if you're the expert, then why don't you build it next time?" Robotnik argued.

"Not now, you two!" Gadd said. "There's no way we're going to last long enough for the others to reach us!"

"You're right," Robotnik said. "There's no way that the Eggles can block a blizzard, or a bolt of lightning."

"True, but let's do something Exor doesn't expect then," Gadd said. "Tell the Eggles to attack Exor kamikaze style! Set the EggCarrier's forward engines to full!"

"You mean the Eggles, right?" Robotnik asked nervously.

"No, we're going to crash their little party in there," Gadd said as he snatched the radio back from Robotnik's hands. "Mario, Sonic, brace yourselves, and prepare for a crash landing!"

As Exor saw what was happening, he had one last thing to say. "I don't get paid enough for this."


	10. Chapter 10

**This is it! The Final Chapter of this story! Enjoy!**

Chapter 10: The Factory

**watch?v=dll0opu5D6g**

The EggCarrier crashed through Exor into Smithy's factory, throwing Mario and Sonic onto the cold metal floor. The factory, however, was completed this time. Unlike Mario's previous visit to the factory, this one was completed. The factory's pathways were completely laid out, the assembly lines were operating at 100% efficiency, and Smithy's weapons were being produced faster than Sonic could run.

"I've got a suggestion," Sonic said. "Let's not do that again."

"Agreed," Mario said.

As the two of them got up, they saw the enormous automated factory.

"Something isn't right here," Mario said. "If they have this huge army, why didn't they send it out to attack us?"

"Let's find out," Sonic said as he rushed over to try to take out some of the Macks that were being produced.

Sonic quickly blasted through about ten of the Macks, until he saw two Yaridoviches behind him.

"First pogo sticks, then spears; this Smithy guy sure is odd," Sonic said.

"Sonic! Get away from the Yaridoviches!" Mario shouted, but it was too late. The Yaridoviches had each activated a water blast, crushing Sonic with gallons of water.

"Water," Sonic laughed. "Never try to drown me. You will regret it!"

Sonic created a tornado to blow the robots away, but the Yaridoviches stuck their heads into the ground to stay put. The Macks, however, were not so lucky. When the wind died down, one Yaridovich split into two. The two of them prepared to stab Sonic, but Sonic jumped on top of one, and started running in place on it, using his feet as a drill. The other Yaridovich started to jab at Sonic, when Mario grabbed it by the legs and started spinning around. When Mario built up enough speed, he released the Yaridovich, and threw him into Mobiüs.

"You have to be more careful with these automatons," Mario said. "They're much stronger than Robotnik's."

"Automatons?" Sonic asked. "Why can't you just say robots?"

"Because of this," Mario said as he kicked open one of the Yardovoiches' heads. "They don't use electricity."

The machine was run completely on steam, without a single wire running throughout the entire thing.

"How is that possible?" Sonic asked. "They're able to change their movements, they act like they think, and they definitely weren't attacking me with a set pattern of movement."

"There's many things I don't know about Smithy," Mario explained. "I don't even think that he's from our dimension."

"That's a safe assumption," Smithy said as he threw open a door. "This factory resides within its very own dimension."

"How is that possible?" Gadd asked as he climbed out of the wrecked EggCarrier.

"Smithy, it's not my fault," Robotnik said. "They forced me to-"

"Shut your mouth!" Smithy said. "Metal Sonic and I know exactly what happened, and we know that you would rather be Sonic's slave before you would serve Metal Sonic willingly."

"Really?" Sonic asked with a smile. "Well, in that case, maybe you should force him to choose sides more often."

"I suppose you four want an explanation," Smithy said. "Yes, that's what Bowser or Robotnik would do, they would explain their plan with grandiose detail, knowing that you would be unable to stop it."

"Bowser? Make a plan?" Mario laughed. "Did you know nothing about whose castle Exor crashed into?"

"No, and that time, I didn't really care, I simply wanted to get rid of that accursed Star Road!" Smithy laughed. "I would have been just as happy if I landed in Booster's Tower!"

"Wait a minute, you still never answered my question," Gadd said. "How is it that this factory exists in another dimension, yet when you attacked the Mushroom Kingdom the first time, it did nothing to disrupt the time-space continuum?"

"Well, if you must know, this isn't truly a dimension all by itself," Smithy started to explain. "It's really quite difficult to explain in human terms, but think of it as more of a crossroad, between dimensions."

"What do you mean?" Robotnik asked. "I thought anything in between dimensions was permanently frozen in time and space, unable to change."

"I said it was a crossroad, I never said it was an actual gap between them," Smithy said. "Think of the dimensions as houses, and this as a street. Exor, he is little more than a key to open the doors. The factory itself, think of it as an RV; it can travel on the road, or it can park in the garage, allowing my creations to enter the house."

"Well, in that case," Mario said, "your RV has just been entered into a demolition derby."

"Wait!" Robotnik shouted. "How do your machines think if they don't have a computer to run them?"

Smithy laughed, then smiled and said, "You really think that all dimensions follow the same rules of logic? No, in some of them, there are creatures that are made out of living plastic, in others, electricity can flow through bricks, in others, stars that emit cold with empty space being hotter than anywhere else! There are dimensions where everything is capable of thought, and others where life itself would be impossible. Others still have it where the wind is alive, others fire. Some have living metal, others intelligent plants. Very few universes are even made of molecules! All of you really are quite ignorant of how little you really know. Only two parts of logic remain the same throughout the multiverse: time, and space. The defiance of each other's logic is why the time-space continuum is disrupted when beings from one dimension enter another. The laws of nature, physics, common sense, all of them are different from one universe to another! To put it simply, beings from other dimensions are like termites to the house. One will do almost nothing, and usually remain undetected, but a swarm of them can unintentionally destroy the house from the inside."

"In that case, you still haven't answered my question," Gadd said. "Why doesn't your presence disrupt any of the dimensions you're in?"

"Well, some questions are better left unanswered," Smithy said.

"You don't know," Robotnik laughed. "You talk as though you're omniscient, and you only know a little more about it than we do!"

"I know everything, it's simply impossible to put it in human terms!" Smithy argued.

"If you truly knew everything, you'd know exactly how to make us understand," Gadd argued. "And also, you would have destroyed the Mushroom Kingdom the first time you visited it."

"Okay, so I don't know!" Smithy said, then turned to Gadd, and continued, "But I know how to find out."

"I believe you are referring to the Kronos Engine?" Gadd asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Smithy questioned. "You already know the answer."

Just then, the entire assembly line stopped, and the factory fell silent.

"What happened?" Mario asked.

"Simple, Metal Sonic and I wish to fight you alone, without my minions to get in the way," Smithy chuckled. "Also, we're both quite curious to see what kind of effect the power of the Chaos Emeralds will have on me."

"Speaking of Gramps, where is he?" Sonic asked.

"Stop asking questions that I can't answer!" Smithy shouted. "I'll destroy the four of you by myself if I have to!"

**watch?v=RQ3tshJyI4A**

Smithy revealed the Chaos Emeralds, and stepped aside to reveal the Master Emerald. The Emeralds glowed brightly, and caused Smithy's hammer to glow the same way.

"Interesting, with everyone else, the Emeralds power up the being who activates them," Smithy said. "However, when I use them, it seems to have some effect on my hammer. I wonder, what would happen if I created a weapon?"

"Let's not find out," Sonic said.

Sonic spun in place for as long as he could, until he eventually created a vacuum that caused a quick blade of wind to shoot out at Smithy. Smithy was hit, but the attack didn't even seem to faze him. Mario let out a barrage of fireballs, which proved to be equally ineffective.

"Sonic, let's try using the Crystal Stars again," Mario said as he tossed them back to Sonic.

"So I'm going to be a bullet again?" Sonic said. "Sheesh, now I know how the EggCarrier must have felt a few minutes ago."

Sonic went ahead and used the Crystal Stars, then jumped over to Mario. Mario started to spin around, building up speed. While they were preparing their attack, Smithy went ahead and forged a large sword, about twice Mario's height. When Mario let Sonic go, Smithy slashed at Sonic with the sword, knocking Sonic into Mario.

"Mamamia!" Mario said. "Okay, so that didn't work."

"What is it with this Smithy guy and ridiculously big swords?" Sonic asked. "First Exor and now this thing."

Smithy threw the sword at Mario, narrowly missing his left hand. After the sword hit the ground, it disappeared.

"That's odd," Robotnik said, who then noticed Gadd was doing something on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Give me a hand here," Gadd said. "I'm trying to modify this thing so that it can identify non-spectral energy signatures."

"What is that thing?" Robotnik asked.

"It's called the Gameboy Horror, and I use it to identify ghosts," Gadd explained. "I'm hoping I can get it to work on the Chaos Emeralds instead."

Smithy forged a double-ended spear, broke it in half, and then threw one at Mario and another at Sonic. Mario jumped over the spear, while Sonic stepped to the side.

"I don't know much about the Chaos Emeralds," Gadd said.

"Step aside!" Robotnik said as he grabbed the GBH, "And watch a master at work."

Smithy rushed towards Sonic and smashed him with his hammer, knocking Sonic to the ground and causing the Power Stars to fail.

"Yeouch!" Sonic shouted. "I think he broke my arm!"

Mario saw Sonic in trouble, and tried to jump on top of Smithy. However, Smithy hit Mario, causing the plumber to fall short of his target.

Mario grunted in pain, "I think that was my leg."

"Something is wrong," Smithy said.

"Yeah, you're winning," Sonic joked.

"That's just it though," Smithy said with a worried voice.

"Wait, you're upset that you're winning?" Mario asked.

"I'm not supposed to defeat you until our next encounter," Smithy said. "But that would mean-"

**watch?v=YEhux2AGF-s**

Just then, Metal Sonic blasted Smithy with a laser, causing Smithy to melt into a pool of burning iron.

"That would mean you've been outdated!" Metal Sonic laughed. "He fulfilled his purpose, and now victory is mine!"

Just then, the doomships appeared in the factory.

Metal Sonic laughed, and then quickly took the Crystal Stars, as well as the Chaos Emeralds.

"It looks like a retreat is in order," Gadd said.

"Don't have to ask me twice," Sonic said. "Professor, I'll keep Gramps busy, get Mario out of here."

"This feels awkward," Mario said.

"You have no chance of survival," Metal Sonic said. "Just give me the Kronos Engine and get it over with... but no, you're not going to do that, are you?"

Everyone got off the doomships and helped Mario up. Sonic realized that he too was in no condition to fight. He used his good hand to grab onto a rope ladder that was dropped from Ludwig's doomship.

"I've got an idea," Gadd said as they left the factory and entered Mobiüs. "Use the Banzai Bill to destroy what's left of Exor!"

"Understood," Ludwig said as he launched the oversized Bullet Bill.

Exor collapsed, trapping Metal Sonic in the factory, for the time being.

**watch?v=Zb4bz4kkNhM**

Once the doomships reached shore, Gadd looked at everyone's injuries.

"Well, the bones aren't broken," Gadd said, "but you certainly shouldn't be using them anytime soon. They both seem to have a small fracture, but if you stay off of them for a couple months, they should be fine. All we need to do now is put casts on to prevent you from moving them."

Tails helped the professor put the casts on, but everyone knew that Metal Sonic would be back.

"So, what exactly happened?" Luigi asked.'

"Well, if everyone's got a bit of time, then I guess we could explain," Mario said as he told them what happened, starting from when he faced the robotic Shadow on the EggCarrier.

After they finished, everyone frowned.

"This only raises more questions," Tails said, "and it answers nothing."

"Yes, this puzzle seems to be too complex for us to figure out," Gadd said. "It's quite perplexing, and seems to offer no hint of a solution."

"We do know something," Luigi said. "Metal Sonic will be back, and he wants nothing less than the power of a titan."

"Yes, but not just any titan," Gadd said, "but that of the son of the Mother."

**To Be Concluded...**

**Confused? I want you to be... but don't worry, I'll clear everything up, in the exciting conclusion to this trilogy, which will be known as Mario Vs. Sonic 3: Multiverse Mayhem. But before I leave you to ponder what I might have in store for you, let me give you a small hint. The last word of the story is capitalized for a reason. Why? I said a hint, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. Or, of course, you could just wait... **

**End of Line**


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